First thing every morning when my mother rose she turned on the radio WSPR Springfield, Massachusetts. She was neither a singer nor a dancer, but first thing every morning there was music in the house – her music – from her era – love songs.
I asked her once why songs are always about love. She didn’t know – she just looked at me with one of her exasperated looks and shrugged her shoulders. When Nanny Kay visited she always brought some gift for the family. One time it was a 45 rpm record player.
When Mom went to work outside the home at Grants Store one of the first things she bought was a stereo. Many nights I’d awaken to she and Dad dancing in the living room, slow stuff.
We kids inherited the 45 rpm record player and one of the first records I bought was Chubby Checkers doing the TWIST.
Along with all the strife there were many happy-go-lucky moments in our lives that mother and father planned as a means to balance our total experience. Isn’t that what all parents/caretakers do? Try to balance the bad with the good to cheer us? Why else would we celebrate birthdays and anniversaries, death days even – though that was usually the domain of governments making you never forget the fallen.
Picnic outside in good weather, family holidays inside in bad weather. Looking back we didn’t fight much when outside in the open air enjoying the freedom of nature. There’s something about being confined inside that lends itself to confrontation.
Anyway, it felt good to hear that song.
Once again.
WORD WARRIOR DAVIES-TIGHT™ 