Open Arms - by Journey

This is it! Finally.

"So now, I'll come to you with open arms.
Nothing to hide, I mean what I say.
So here I am with open arms.
Hoping you'll see, what your love means to me.
Open Arms"

"Living without you, living alone.
This empty house seems so cold.
...Wanting you near. How much I want to bring you home.

But now that you've come back, turned night into day,
I need you to stay."

I'm transferred back in time. Again, in love with Jimmy Keeton. A young girl--maybe in 7th grade. Or 8th. Junior High anyway. And in my mind I can see myself sitting at the table in the cafeteria with a group of friends and we're all talking about the best records. And someone mentions the album from Journey. On cassette.

And I realize that I can OWN the song that keeps playing in my mind.

Then I'm transferred to years and years later when I open the wallet I used in my youth. I'm an adult now. With a child. And there, stuck in a memo pad is a little note written to me from Jimmy. And I treasure it so much.

The Wedding Song

The Wedding Song
by Paul someone

"He is now to be among you, at the calling of your heart.
The union of your spirits here have caused Him to remain.
For whenever two or more of you are gathered in His name,
There is Love...."

"Well a man shall leave his mother, and a woman leave her home....
As it was in the beginning is now until the end. Woman draws her life from man, then gives it back again.
There is love."

"Well then what's to be the reason for becoming man and wife?
Is it love that brings you here, or love that brings you life?
Well, if loving is the answer, then who's the giving for?
Do you believe in something that you've never seen before? Oh, there's love!"

My sister had this song sung at her wedding. So pretty. So touching. So sad in a way. So true.

She asked me to sing it, but I didn't have the confidence to do it. It's my one regret in life.

Stuck on You

Stuck on You
by The Commodores

Here I am, settling into bed for the night and doing a little bit of work before shut-eye.

And the first strands of Stuck On You begins to play. (I can name that tune in 5 notes...)

And swish, I begin to fall.
Softly at first, then more swiftly.

Back to the 80's.
Back to 1985 to be exact.

And in my mind I can see James Staton sitting on my sister's couch, in her apartment, looking at pictures of my youth. Ronnie and Vickie are there. But I'm not. I'm in Kentucky, if my memory serves me correctly.

The reason I can see this is because somewhere I have a picture of that exact moment. And on the record player, Joe is playing The Commodores and James likes this song. Probably the first time he's heard it.

And this song brings these feelings that I can't quite put into words.

It's not bittersweet.

It's sweet.
I guess.

Because that was before the problems started.
That was early on in the relationship.
And it's good to know that there were good moments. Sweet moments.

And sweet memories.

Even though the bad memories are pretty much gone for me. I've moved on.

I have Kent. And he's amazing.

Say You, Say Me

Say You, Say Me
by Lionel Richie

I hate this song.
Really.
And that's all I have to say about that.

Faithfully - by Journey

I'm sitting on my bed.

It's a beautiful "just before spring" day.

The sun is shining through the windows. It's a Sunday. I've taken a nap. I need a shower.

But I'm drawn to write.

So I'm sitting on my bed, with the radio on.

The little one is playing a video game.

The big one is taking a nap from his midnight shift job.

And I'm thinking of my new post. How to compose it. Where to begin.

And there it is!

On the radio.

The beginning strands of a familiar song.

A song from "then".

But --ahhh-- it's not the song, but it's close.

And for a moment I'm transported to my youth. To the time when I loved JK.

The memories don't flood my mind.
They don't take over my soul.
They don't cause me harm or uneasy feelings.

Quite the opposite: The song leaves me with a smile.

I've had a good life.

The Song Remembers When

I love music. LOVE music.
It's a part of me.
A living, breathing part of me.

So many of my memories are wrapped around a song.

So many songs are wrapped around my memories.

And with today's technology, in a matter of minutes, you can be listening to just about any song you can think of.

Still, my favorite way to hear a song is on the radio.

You're sitting somewhere.
Just minding your own business.
Washing your hair.
Reading a book.
Looking through a magazine.

You're driving somewhere.
Talking to yourself.
Yelling at the person driving in front of you.
Trying to make the kids sit still/be quiet/stop making a mess.

And suddenly, there it is.
The first strands of a familiar song.

And suddenly, it happens.

The world around you slips away.

And you're transported.

To another time.

And you're reliving the memories.
Reliving the moments.
Reliving the feelings from so long ago.

Because the song remembers when . . . .