Summer of 1990

I vividly remember the summer of 1990, as I vividly remember most summers of my high school and college years.  Those tend to be drama-packed, hormone-driven transitional years for many people, and I was no exception.  The summer of 1990 was right after my sophomore year of high school, and it was the first summer I could drive.  It was a tough summer for me, as I was adjusting to life without both of my best friends.  One had graduated from high school and was leaving town with no intention of looking back.  Kristen, my other best friend, was the daughter of our church pastor.  He was reassigned that summer to church two hours away.  Even though I had plenty of other friends, it was something of a lonely summer for me.

It was also the first summer I really remember appreciating spending time with my dad.  My mom was a stay-at-home mom until my senior year of high school, so she was always around.  My dad though, was a workaholic.  It was a summer I remember spending time riding around town, just seeing what might be happening.  Dad loved taking car rides, and I was always happy to ride along.  Dad loved country music.  Of course as a teenager, I couldn't stand my parents' music, and I especially hated country.  But on one ride on Father's Day, I remember hearing George Straight sing, "Love without end, Amen."  That song spoke to me in a way I'm not sure any song ever had before, and tears filled my eyes.  I remember taking a friend with me to Murphy's Mart (it had to be about the last summer it was in town), and I remember her making fun of me for purchasing a cassette tape (that's right!) by a country artist.

It was another few years before I began to really follow country music.  Honestly, I often made fun of the songs myself when Dad and I were on car rides.  That song though?  Well, that song I always turned up and tried to sing along...if I didn't get too choked up about it.

Today I was out running errands and listening to the radio.  Now, I pretty much ONLY have country music stations programmed.  One of them is a classic country station, and sure enough, George Straight's classic song started playing.  All of a sudden, it was 1990 again in my heart.  I absolutely can't believe it has been almost thirty years since that summer.  I still got tears in my eyes, of course, and in some ways even more so because I miss my dad so much each and every day.  But I was also able to have the perspective that I was so incredibly lucky to have had him in my life as long as I did.

I'm so grateful for my dad, and I'm so grateful for music which helped to shape my life, and helped to make my memories so special and vivid.