They say you should not look back unless it is to see how far you’ve gone. Well, today I looked back to 1989 through 1993. It wasn’t on purpose. I really was focused on the task of bubble wrapping my phone for future use. I first caught a glimpse as I shifted from the middle bins of $4.88 generic phone cases. There were glitter ones, glitter ones, a few with stripes, a few solid colors, and some more glitter ones. I do appreciate my softer side, but I will not let it out that far that I am willing to carry a glitter phone case. Maybe I will rethink that; could be quite the conversation piece when meeting a customer. Nah, we will let that go. Okay, so as I was heading to the iPhone section of Walmart I popped my head up and there it was in its large grey box. The lower-case g in the circle caught my eye. The Anthology of Garth Brooks was on sale in Walmart. Geekdom kicked in.
After the first glance, I continued on my task and thought “I don’t need this. I don’t even really listen to iTunes much anymore.” I finally found my cheap ass case. A flat black, safe for 3-foot falls, and that was about it. Michelle was a little more diligent in her search, so I was drifting off and started thinking about all the songs that I haven’t heard in a long time. Easing back over to the end cap I found myself staring at the box. Oops, I made the fatal error and picked it up. I turned it over and started reading what was available. Five CD’s, a large hard backed book that chronicles his rise from 1985-1995 and all that music. I put it back down and wandered over to the center rack just to make sure I had chosen the best option. After a few minutes, Michelle glided by because she just couldn’t find a case that fit her immediate needs and had gotten frustrated and pulled up Amazon to see if there was anything she could get in pronto. As she sauntered over to the center rack I eased back to that damned end cap.
Yes, I picked it up again, spun it around, looked at the contents, and…...put it in the basket. I was going to reacquaint myself with the music of Garth Brooks. I had every CD before, even burned them onto my iTunes, but somewhere along the line they disappeared. The CD’s are gone as well. Michelle and I spoke about the music as we were finishing our search for these damned elusive, cheap cases and finally finished up that process. As I strolled towards the checkout I thought about my next few hours jamming to Garth while driving around delivering goodies for Christmas to our tenants. After a smooth, I know, a rare treat, checkout we headed to the truck to begin the reminiscing process. Open the package, slide the book out from the protector, and the phone rang. Business had stopped the going back process.
We pushed forward on deliveries and talked about things that needed to get done today, tomorrow, and this weekend. The moment had passed, just like all those years so long ago, and we were very much in the present. Really, I just liked his music. I cannot remember any important things that happened that would make me want to never forget his music. It was just good. It had some great messages, good instruments, and when there were still videos I loved watching them. There wasn’t a great love, accomplishment, or other life changing event. Just good music to me.
The flashback finally did happen around 5:15 this evening. Once we left the office we slid the first CD in the player, yes, our truck still has a CD player, and let it rip. I started singing from the first song and Michelle just stared. I looked in amazement that she didn’t know this song. She kindly reminded me that she was nine when this came out and not only did that make me realize how old this music was it also reminded me how cool my wife is that she took a chance on her old man boyfriend. During the first year I was in my senior year of high school. That sounds terrible if you say it slow but when you look forward, as we all should, it isn’t so bad. If Tomorrow Never Comes came on and she new that one. Sang every word right along with me. After some quick work at the barn we finished the first year with the classic, The Dance. Not only did Michelle sing that one but Brianna joined us as well.
We should continually move forward as we move towards our goals. We get new houses, cars, friends, dreams, and even tastes. The one thing I have a challenging time completely moving forward with is my music. The other day I was listening to a song that is almost 50 years old and it still sounds good today. Music played such a big part in so many of our lives that it is almost impossible to stay in the present with that one. Keep moving forward but let your music move you that way.
Oh yeah, if and when The Anthology Part II comes out I will head back into the belly of the beast, Walmart, and purchase it as well.
Photo by Emma Frances Logan on Unsplash
Photo by Jason Rosewell on Unsplash
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