Music Memories

I put Neil Diamond on the turn-table this morning to keep me company as I laid out the electronics I'll be taking with me on the ride. With the first few notes of "Everybody's talkin,'" memories from years ago flooded through me. Instead of sorting through the charging cords and other assorted electronics, I sat in the middle of my bedroom to float on the memories.

Summers spent riding ponies and horses through clover fields. Making construction paper ribbons and having our own horse shows with Mom as the judge. She never played favorites.

Hot summer nights playing Kick the Can. On rare occasions, Mom would call for us from the back porch that it was time to come in for the day. Most often, she let us determine our own bedtime.

Mom waking me up one August night to take me out to a blanket she had spread on the lawn. We laid there, watching meteors race across the sky.

Mom loved listening to Neil Diamond. Whenever one of his songs came on the radio she would turn it up.

When "Holly Holy" began, I couldn't sit any longer. I went out to the deck and danced. I wondered if Mom ever danced when no one was watching. Did she close her eyes, lift her face to the sky, and let the music flow through her?

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