Leaving the things that you love from mind

I love my music. I always have. I used to have a Mickey Mouse transistor radio that I would climb to the top of one of our orange trees so I could get a good signal from Miami. When I was probably 13 or 14 I would babysit and clean the house for extra money.  It all went to buy albums. I would fall asleep with my huge Koss earphones on listening to Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Rush, Van Halen, etc.  My favorite was Aerosmith.  I had just bought a new copy of Toys in the Attic.  It is one of the more mainstream albums because it has Walk This Way on it. One night I got into one of those rip roaring Mother-Daughter fights. I can not remember what it was about.  My Mom picked up the album cover from my bed and ripped it in half!  It was teenage devastation!  I taped it back together with masking tape.  I was so hurt.  That ripped album symbolized more than just that one fight.

Present day--In my kitchen I have album covers framed as art.  I have the Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers with the Andy Warhol cover that has the actual zipper.  The boys got me a pristine copy of Led Zeppelin III for Christmas a few years ago, The Replacements Pleased to Meet Me is there.

About a month ago I was reading the paper and saw that Joe Perry was going to play that night at the State Theatre in St. Pete. My best friend C and I would obsess over the guys we liked in the bands. Joe Perry is the lead guitarist of Aerosmith and I was supposed to marry him and have his baby.  My best friend was going to marry Robert Plant.  It was all planned.  30 years later and back to reality--on a whim I bought a ticket and went by myself.  Huge for me.  I bought my Crown and Ginger and found a sofa.  A guy came in a few minutes later and asked if he could sit there too.  We started talking and it ended up that he was a big fan and had driven over from the east coast.  His name is Scott (he gets to keep his real name).  We talked all night--he does hot yoga too.  I am not sure how it came up, but I must have told him the ripped album cover story. Scott and I have communicated over email since the concert.  His son is a musician.  Scott asked for my mailing address to send me a copy of his son's CD.  Today I got a copy of the CD and along with it was a copy of Toys in The Attic with a post it note that read, "Tell your Mom to keep her hands off this one!"  It brought tears to my eyes.  The second time that album cover has made me cry this month.  For Christmas Sulie got me the same thing.  The one she got (off of eBay) was a bit more weathered, but it meant so much because she remembered.  At dinner tonight I told Sulie about the album that Scott sent.  Her face fell when I told her it was in really good condition.  I just put Scott's in a frame and hung it up next to the one Sulie got me.  I think they tell a story.  One is weathered and bent and it is from my dear sister that has seen me through ups and downs and watched me put that thing back together with masking tape. The other one looks almost new and is a gift from my new friend. Kind of cool.