We "inherited" some bedroom furniture from Jack's mother; the usual dresser, chest of drawers thing. The set also included one of those big framed mirrors, the kind most folk hang over the dresser. The pair looked nice in their special corner of the room. Once outfitted with a hand embroidered doily and favorite lamp the whole thing looked downright elegant!
It reminded me of the bedroom my sister Carolyn and I shared many years ago; memories of her whispered boyfriend secrets, attempts at teaching me make-up tricks and so on. We didn't always get along back then, I was so much younger than her. But still, we had more good times than bad, supported one another whenever we could and have grown even closer through the years.
She was the oldest of us five kids and had the honored distinction of official ice-breaker and envelope stretcher when she wasn't being drafted as chief baby sitter. It can't have been easy, my teenage sister playing mother hen to four youngsters of various ages. But she survived, as did we. It wasn't long before her former charges were off to their own adventures.
By the time I was old enough to want to spread my wings a bit, Carolyn had already tested the waters and gotten our parents up to speed on some of the usual coming of age scenarios. Curfews, boys, dances and so on were already worn down from "issues" to "understandings." So, I made my own mistakes, broke new ground and all that. I'm sure a good bit of Mom's then-greying hair was brought on by my growing pains and gains.
That bedroom set stayed behind when my sister married and moved to Alaska. I moved too, into a smaller room so my brothers could have a bit more space. It was nice having my own room, however tiny. I learned to love solitude, and appreciated the time I had when the only noises in my head were my own. I spent hours writing, learning guitar and drawing or painting. We didn't have a lot of things like some of the other kids; no personal phones or expense accounts or even allowances. What we did have, even in spite of some pretty heavy differences, was and remains a loving, loud, big family. And for that I am eternally grateful.
So, as I look over at Jack's mom's dresser and mirror, I am brought back to my growing-up days....my sister's hairspray, my own tie dyed style sans make-up and what seems now to have been a much more innocent time. Here's to those memories!
There's some good news to report on the music front-I finally figured out how to use some of the recording equipment we collected through the years! So tomorrow we'll be doing some actual multi-track recording in our home studio!
I promise to upload a few samples once they're done!
