Mom & Dad

These are my parents, and my daughter. My folks live in Virginia, in the lovely tourist trap called Virginia Beach. For the most part that's where I grew up, where I call home...the place that I long to return to.

Well, earlier this year, we went up to see them because it had been almost four years since I saw my mom and dad. It's expensive to fly up there and our cars haven't always been the most reliable in the world.

So needless to say I miss them fiercely. At random moments I'll hear a song or see something that reminds me of them and I start to cry because I miss seeing them. So what I have found myself doing lately (and not even intentionally) is listening to the same music that my mom listened to when I was growing up.

It helps me to remember the good times and then I don't miss them quite as much.

It also says a lot about me too. When I was younger my mom and dad played The Beatles, James Taylor, Micheal Bolton just to name a few. I liked Micheal Bolton, but The Beatles - bleck. I couldn't stand them. Their songs were dumb and I didn't understand the meaning or the point.

Now, fifteen years later, I like The Beatles and I understand (most of) the songs. And right now I'm listening to James Taylor (the same live CD my mom listened to) and I can see her dancing around the kitchen making dinner, her lips pursed as she snapped her fingers in time to the beat of Handy Man. I can hear her sing the chorus of the song, my sister and my own voices joining in. I always thought that the three of us harmonized beautifully even though I can't carry a tune in a bucket.

It's nice to have these memories. It's also nice to know that the person I am continuously becoming is someone my parents would be proud of because in a way I'm becoming like them: mature and responsible.