Musical Memory Lane

I had a wonderful trip home. I am comfortable here, and often forget what it's like to go home when I'm away for long stretches. I love home. It is an unabashed and passionate love. Not just for a place but the people that come with it.

I do love the place. I love how the sun pours into the living room in the afternoons. I love how the kitchen is large enough to house everything you need and allow numerous people to filter through but feels small enough for you to work alone. I love the location - the tree lined street that is canopied with leaves in the spring and summer and then how the street itself is carpeted with yellow leaves come fall.

The people, though, are what makes it home. I love that my Mum gets up each morning and turns on the stereo to listen to the radio while she works. I love that my Dad goes to work and will be home promptly each day at noon to have lunch with Mum, and then take his nap. Although he has progressed in the world of technology and now has an ipod to set his alarm, I'll always remember the timer going off in the kitchen and knowing it was time to wake Daddy up from his nap.

It's especially wonderful now that Julie, Lowell, Fraser and Kumeu are mere minutes away. We were able to have breakfasts together, walk the dogs (or just release them into the parental doggy daycare area), watch movies, and get lots of baby snuggles.

My last morning home, Dad brought home spudnuts for tea-time! As Mum and I had enjoyed a leisurely morning in the hot tub, it was a great cap to our final morning.

A few Christmases ago Mum had tried to send my Christmas music collection to me and it never arrived. Unfortunately there was a large batch of mail stolen from a certain area of the city which included my cd's (I'm sure they were disappointed in that package). As I was home I thought I'd put some of the family favorite Christmas cd's onto my computer and ended up finding some fun memories along the way.

Patty Loveless - Honky Tonk Angel. This was the first cd I ever bought. It was entirely because of the song "Chains". To tell you the truth, I was looking at the track listing and I don't recognize most of the rest of the songs. I wonder if I ever even listened to them.

Awesome Hits
I think this was actually Marc's cd, but it was playing so often and was always in the living room (where the cd player was) so we all listened to it. Goooooooood times listening to "Good Vibrations", 2 Unlimited...and that's all I can remember.

Clay Walker - I think I can still sing every word to "If I Could Make A Living". I believe we went to see him in concert (did he open for Michelle Wright?).

Oh Janie Frickie. What an unfortunate name you have. Also, I think I might have hid this cd at one point so Mum couldn't play it on Sunday mornings.

Ray Boltz
I think the first time we heard this cd was at our Aunt & Uncle's in Edmonton. One of our cousins might have actually sang one of the songs in church (I have a memory of that, but I'm not too sure...). It became a staple around the house and I still love it today.

Dad would often sing Everly Brothers songs to us (the one I can remember the most is "Wake Up, Little Susie" when he was telling us to wake up) and I have always loved their harmonies. Their music always reminds me of my Dad.

And the reason I went to the cd rack in the first place - Amy Grant's Home for Christmas. I have always loved this cd, and it will serve as a constant reminder of good times around the holidays.

It's amazing how memories can be so wrapped up in music and how hearing a song or even seeing a cd case can bring things flooding back.