The Song Remembers When

There's always a song, that when you hear it, takes you back somewhere. Good or bad, it makes you relive a moment in time. I think this is why we love music so much.

In the years of early teens

I see myself all dreamy eyed

And feeling in-between

Music filled my life

And wrapped me in fantacy

I heard the song of BLUEBIRD

That meant so much to me.

the story of my life.

for Marvin Rainwater to walk in.

I have it backwards. Rainwater preceded Robbins. It's just that I didn't realize the importance of either song until much later in my life. So, let's fast forward....

I married a man who LOOKED like Marty Robbins.

He died 6 days after Marty did. Our last precious moment was holding hands watching Ronnie Robbins sing his Dad's song on television, My Woman, My Woman, My Wife.

So, you can imagine what that song does to me. Even after 34 years.

But that's just it. A song is timeless.

Kenny Rogers sang The Gambler before we were married in 1978. They called my husband, Stan, the Gambler. Another reminder song.

But even years later songs burn into your heart... George Strait sang A Fire I Can't Put Out six months after I lost Stan, but it takes me back, too.

I don't know how to handle the dream you left behind. / It's like a lighted candle burning up my mind. / At least I'm happy knowing what love is all about. / You'll always be a fire I can't put out.…

Let's go back to the first marriage. And the first baby, who ...came too soon to live / On a cold December night / A tiny soul who lived and died / Before dawn's early light.

When I awoke the next morning this song played on the radio, the first time I heard it. It was one of very few instrumentals that hit #1, and it remained for 3 weeks. It became my daughter's song, and I still have to fight tears as I listen to it.

As the years passed by, as years have a tendency to do, I found my marriage was not what I had expected, or what I wanted.

Somewhere in the midst of this, I discovered the song that became and remains my favorite ever...

I stayed too many years longer than I should have, but when I finally got out of it, Dolly was singing to me...

Oh, no! The version I had of Dolly with a live band that I truly loved, has been removed. In looking for a replacement, the only thing I can say about it is it is current Dolly... who at 75 is still as lovely and vibrant as ever. A good song is never bad, but I do miss the earlier one.

And after my hubby died, like a foolish girl, I lit out for Nashville... 30 years too late, of course, but a song by Clinton Gregory kept me sane.

This became my traveling tune, and not long after I reached Nashville, I got to meet Clinton and be in one of his music videos. Oh, and look here, we got 2 for one on this video.

I spent 7 years in Nashville and there are too many songs to remember when... But I loved every minute of it. It was like a permanent vacation. I got to meet that man who Loved Me Easier....! And many others. I was in videos and movies and now I'm about to use those experiences in a novel... about a SONG!

You all remember Me and You and a Dog Named Boo, don't you?