Soundtrack of My Life

Yesterday, I sat at a middle school baseball game. Nothing unusual for me, I have been at all of the home games this year, cheering and watching. Danny doesn't play much, he is a seventh grader, the team is for seventh and eigth graders. I get that the 8th graders paid their dues last year and that it is their turn(collectively) to shine. It is what it is. I do go, though, to all of the home games. SOmetimes I am running late, but it is important for me to be there. So, back to yesterday, Cassidy came off of the bus, didn't really want to go, and Patrick had already said he was going to stay at home. Perfect, I get a couple of hours to go and sit in the sunshine, with the breeze and watch baseball! Cool. So the two stayed home, did Cassidy's homework together, and were fine. Trusty cell phone in hand, I ran to get a cup of coffee, decided on a coolatta, from Dunkin' Donuts, and off to the game I went. Took my chair out of the trunk, and sat next to the bleacher(thesmallest in recorded history, hence the chair.) Of course, sitting near the bleacher in any sport that is school related, is not great to do if you want to enjoy the game. The Dads are there, you know them all well, frustrated coaches, who comment on everything, but don't just comment, they yell, they coach and they call out to all of the kids, from the sidelines. It isn't so bad, but when they correct something that the coach told the kid to do, or they criticize things or the way things are done, it just irritates me. SO, being alone, with no one to keep watch over, I reached into my bag of tricks, and pulled out a magic machine! My IPOD....my 2 year old obsolete IPOD. It works so well, it still stores and takes music, it still has a memory. I don't need the new one, the latest one, I won't unless this one dies. Plug in the headphones, and I am good to go. I put the player on shuffle, that way I get a variety of artists and songs, and not all one at the same time. SO there I sat, listening to my music....thinking about how each song defined me at different times in my life. It is interesting to realize the memories that a bar of music can trigger. Like Sinara: "Summer Wind" it is the last song that danced with my Dad. I still skip that one, too raw, but not as raw as it could be. Some of the songs that I remember from am radio, when I used to ride in the middle of my parents in Dad's truck on our way to camp pulling a trailer. The Bee Gees, "Massachusetts" knowing every word, memories of sitting in a pop up camper with my Mom, my brother and his friend Fred. Rain pounding and wind howling, a hurricaine outside, in CT at a campground. My Dad had to work that weekend, so he pulled the camper to the campground, and left to go back to work. I think my brother followed in Mom's car. I skipped through some songs, listening to a couple of lines, and moving on, afraid that the memories would be too raw and that my emotions would flow on a baseball field. That is the sound track of my life. Each song either represents a time or brings memories back. The GO GO's, ABC, AC/DC, Winger, Andrea Boccelli, Shainia Twain, Bee Gees, The Village People, Lime, Morris Day and he Time, The Supremes, The Ojays, all of them have gotten me through the rough, the good and the best or worst of times. The soundtrack of my life, like a movie that I can see in my head. I see the people in the "movie" clearly, I feel the feelings that I felt then. It is amazing what one bar or two bars of music, with or without words can conjure up.

I thought I would be funny and try to equate the titles of the songs with times in my life, but this post evolved into something else, and there are too many titles that equate with different times, too many. I didn't know that I knew so many songs, obscure ones too. So, I will leave you with the thought that you all should listen to your soundtrack. Enjoy it, remember it, laugh, cry and be angry if necessary. It is yours, and yours alone, places and people come and go, but your soundtrack stays with you, it evokes your memories, your experiences, your entire life. Have fun with it, create new songs and live with them!