Music & Memories

Tuesday, February 28, 2012: I love music. I think it has magical powers. I think it can change dark to light and negative to positive. It often brings me to tears. It always makes my heart sing. It is the one thing that can relax and comfort me when I'm feeling scared or hopeless.

Lately, I've made some awesome music memories. As a mother, I've always hoped that I've instilled the love of music into my children's souls - and now as a grandmother, I hope the same thing for my precious grands. They all sing, in one way or another. Even baby Knox tries to "sing" the hymns in church! They'll never know (well, maybe they will now!) how happy it makes me to hear them sing and see them enjoy music. And yes, listening to the radio totally counts!

So, back to those music memories - As the mother of a teenager, I ride the roller-coaster of real or imagined drama with school and friends and likes and dislikes right along with my girl. She has grown leaps & bounds in the past year, from a shy little mouse to an exciting, creative, mesmerizing young lady. And suddenly, music is one of her passions! Not only did she (finally) join the school choir - and LOVES it - but she has gone crazy for an up-and-coming boy band - four young men with tattoos and colored hair and tight skinny jeans. It will tell my age here to remember my own "crushes" as a 14-15 year old--David Cassidy, Bobby Sherman, Bread, Chicago, just to name a few--so I've had to look beyond the silliness of youth and see things through her eyes...and guess what? I've become a fan of these four boys, too! I will admit that I'm not crazy about the tattoos and some of the lyrics (which makes us both cringe every time and turn down the volume for a few seconds), but I admit that they are talented and adorable, in their own 21st century way. And so, instead of saying, "Oh, that's nice, honey, go enjoy your music on your own," I've elected to join her. In the past 6 months, this band has performed twice in Salt Lake City, and since they're not that well known YET (they're on tour with Taylor Swift in Australia right now, so watch out world - here they come!), we've been able to buy tickets for pretty cheap (first concert, $18; second one, $22). Their first concert was in August - very hot, very "close" in our "standing room only" venue; this second one was just a few weeks ago and was much more "bearable" for this old mom. I got to sit on a little wall ledge through the opening acts and then had plenty of space around me to jump and dance and clap and sing when our boys came on stage. J took a friend to this concert and they had a blast standing six feet from the stage in the press of hot bodies, looking into the eyes of their boys, and even catching the lead singer when he jumped into the audience at the end of show! The highlight of their lives (so far)! I can only say that I'm glad to have this bond with my girl and hope she'll always remember her funny mom dancing and singing with the rest of the crowd to "Forever Unstoppable"!

(Pictures top & bottom: J and I at the first HCR concert in SLC - August 2011; J and her friend M freezing in line for the concert before doors opened - February 2012. Proud to be called "Beautiful Freaks!")