THROWBACK . . . TUESDAY?

When you get to be my age, there are a lot of memories to remember, good and bad. Most of them for me are about family and friends. That covers a lot of territory. Mostly family, since I’ve had two great extended families that make up the biggest and best parts of my life.

My two kids are associated with many of those memories. I still think of them as “kids,” although my daughter was 49 yesterday, and my son with be 50 in a couple of weeks.

it’s curious to me what things stick in my memory. One that is indelible happened when my kids were in high school. They were always good students, even better than I was. My daughter was 8th in a class of almost 800, and my son was Valedictorian in a similar-sized class. They’ve both gone on to do great things; ironically, both are now high school teachers. My dad, the elementary school principal, would be so proud of them, as I am.

The vivid memory I’m thinking of was related to my daughter’s passion to become a drummer. Yes, you heard that right. We bought her a drum set, and I even built a sound-proofed room in the garage. She belonged to a high school rock band, and when they got together to practice, it was usually in our garage. The drummer had the most equipment to haul to the practice location, so it was inevitable they ended up at our house for practices.

The video linked below is the original of one of the songs they played over and over. I can hear them now, playing “Every Step You Take (I’ll be Watching You).” The video is the original version by the Police.
It’s one of my favorites, by a superb three-piece rock group, in the tradition of Cream, ZZ Top, and Rush. It’s not really a love song. Mostly it sounds like a controlling boyfriend lamenting the loss of his love, just in a pretty creepy, stalker way. It’s very well written, but like many classic rock songs, it’s not one where you want to focus too much on the lyrics.
Although, it’s those lyrics that stick most in my memory: “Every breath you take, every move you make, every bond you break, every step you take, I’ll be watching you.” Enjoy, the amazing music at least.