Friday, February 5, 2010

...so about that music of your life..??

I was driving to work this morning when an old Dolly Parton song came on - "Here you come again"..and I was suddently fighting back tears..in the car...on the freeway..driving to work...




Not because I'm such a huge Dolly fan (actually, I sorta am..) but because it immediately transported me back about 30 years...

no, not really, silly.....I was still driving....but in my mind..


Mr. B and me and all 4 kiddos (and one borrowed neighbor child..)  were driving from Amarillo, Texas






...to Colorado for a camping vacation. 





One of many. One of the best.  One of the very best.  And they were all pretty good, so that's saying something..



It was always quite early in the morning when we'd head out..and it was always a dozen donuts on the way..it was always who spotted the mountains in the distance first..."I see 'em!"  "No I saw them first" "No you didn't" "Uh-huh"

And this particular trip I remember having a cassette player in the Jeep Wagoneer we just purchased..Boy Howdy we were livin' large!   When the radio stations were out of range, we'd have music for our listening enjoyment.



What a great idea:-)

Obstacle # 1 -  driving from Texas to the high mountains in Colorado - everything was "out of range" very quickly.

Obstacle # 2 -  2 adults + 5 kids  / 2 sets of seats  =  much whining

Obstacle # 3-  One cassette tape....Yep, you heard me right....ONE tape..of Dolly Parton..

again and again and again over and over and over again and again and again over and over and over and again over...




"Two Doors Down" "Hard Candy Christmas"  ...... "Here You Come Again"....over and over....

 That was the year I found a bakery with my nose...by sniffing out the directions .."turn right here..now go left.."

The year we saw snow in July...

The year of ...Dolly Parton.  And laughter..and hugs..and dirty little faces and grimy little hands..

The year I KNEW  I'd found the perfect Dad for all of them...




And hearing her today..I wanted those times back..all of them.  The repetitive music, the grimy hands, the fighting over who gets what seat and "he's hitting me" and "I need to go potty" and "I'm hungry" and "are we there yet?"

I wandted to hold them close to me as one would hug a teddy bear..close and tight..



And I ached for those times once again..

And I cried.


OR, it coulda  been that I didn't have my second cuppa coffee ..who knows.

-me

11 comments:

Sheryl Parsons said...

Our lives are filled with music that triggers memories, some good, some not so good, but music speaks to us all.

Laurie said...

Sheryl's right. I associate so much of my past with current songs on the radio. Sometimes it makes me smile, and like you, cry. But laugh or cry, the memories are priceless aren't they!?

Sherry Goodloe said...

Oh yes, there are soooooo many songs from the 50's and 70's that bring back memories . . . sigh. Now when I hear music that my 18 year old listens to and start singing different lyrics to the music, he says, "you know that song?!" And I reply, "Ah, yes I do. you guys stole the music from us and put those stupid lyrics to it!" LOL

Vicki/Jake said...

Awww, this brought tears here too,

Because:

1)You found your Mr Right (o:

2)There IS such thing as Dolly overload,(I like her too, but c'mon..)

3)I miss those times with my babies also.(But I had Mr. Wrong!)

Great memories Colleen, Thanks..

Tania said...

Dolly does it to me too. And I never even owned a Dolly cassette. But I do own a Neil Diamond somewhere. And that makes me come over Sooky La La as well because my parents would always put him on when they had a dinner party. Rhinestone Cowboy was music to digest by. Obviously.

Pearl said...

I hear ya Collen sometimes you just want to go back and recreate those memories in your mind of the good ole days. We get older and it gets harder so it does make me cry too. But now I'm making new memories for my Grandchildren so they can remember the songs and remember how Granny did this and that? Lord I may roll over in my grave knowing they'll probably scrap book about it! :) Hugs and hope your feeling better soon. Pearl

Jean said...

Love this post! Funny how we can be transported to another time by just a sound. Jean

Chrissykat said...

What a sweet post & lovely collection of memories...all of them (even the not so perfect ones!)

Debby@Just Breathe said...

Those were the days. My kids remember us playing Steely Dan on all the car trips. But we did have more than one Steely Dan tape!

diane b said...

Ah Coleen, you brought tears to my eyes.I think it is a common occurance amongst us oldies. The other day Bill and I heard "Raindrops Are falling on your head" and it remended us of when we had a cassette tape recorder hanging from the dash as we drove into the mountains from Pt Moresby for a Sunday pinic when we were courting.(Young, happy and healthy)I like Dolly's "Nine to Five"

Jillian said...

I did that the other day with "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac on the way home from dropping off Heather. I've always loved the song, but it never made any sense to me. Somehow as she sang, I was flooded with long-gone people and memories that fit in like puzzle pieces with the lyrics. And I cried.

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