Soundtracks
My fourth grade P.E. class presented a choreographed workout routine to Olivia Newton John's "Let's Get Physical" for PTA. (She was not talking about the cardio our 9-year-old brains were thinking about, boys and girls!)π«£π
The opening notes to "Hard Habit to Break" spin disco balls and boy drama through the rollers rinks of my mind. (That confident heel crossover on a couples' skate, or even better β¦ the somebody skating backward β¦ the best.)π
"Friends are Friends Forever" β¦ the [OG High School] MUSICAL. No one should have to play the lead character who is moving away the month before she is moving away, actually. But I did. And then I played the lead again when I got to where I was going. All the feels ALL summer long.π
The night my first baby was born, we were alone in the hospital room and he wouldn't stop crying. I whisper-sang through tears, "You are beautiful beyond description β¦" halfway to him as I stared at his adorable face, and whole-heartedly to the Maker who was going to have to help us face this new season with gratitude and grace.π
Music in all its forms is magical in the way it lays tracks for our emotions to follow while mixing sights and sounds with thoughts and feelings to produce memories forever linked to a particular tune.π€
Months before his wedding last year, Luke sent me the link to "A Mother Like Mine." He wrote, "This can be our song for the mother-son dance at the reception ... I'll shorten it and make sure we have plenty of time to practice."π
Weeks passed before I could listen without bawling. Once, I was minding my own business in Walgreen's and heard it play β¦ and almost came undone.π₯Ί
As Ardyn and I chose [a bazillion] songs for her [perfectly brief] ceremony and reception, I made my own playlist of songs that I thought were such a great fit for my daughter, for her man, and for the hopes and prayers that Philip and I were holding up on their behalf. I still listen to it every couple of weeks. It reminds me of the beauty that infused every minute of their wedding day, and it ushers in a sense of rekindling and recommitment in my own heart. Good stuff.π