Friday morning, as I was cleaning the kitchen, I heard an old familiar tune that brought me back to when I was a kid.
I recall listening to this song, and asking my dad what she was talking about. What the heck was a Tennessee Flat Top Box? He explained that it was a guitar. I couldn’t remember why he told me they called it that, but it just made sense.
Growing up, I was surrounded by music. Dad was in the band and mom loved to dance. I remember the cookouts with the “pickin and grinnin”. Heading down home, grandpa always had a guitar nearby too, and would pick away when the mood struck. Dad had a “hifi” with some awesome tunes that he loved, as well as mom’s tunes. I very clearly remember rocking out to mom’s Tina Turner record (best recording of Proud Mary ever). Great times.
As I grew older, my tastes changed from country classics like Alabama and Charlie Daniels (I shook his hand) and moved along to Motley Crue, GnR and Poison (C’s met Bret several times). I wanted one of those black silky jackets so bad with {insert band logo here} on it. Then Hip Hop came on the scene, and I was stuck in there. Afrikka Bambaatta, Grandmaster Flash and Run D.M.C. gave way to rappers like LL Cool J, NWA and Geto Boys. In high school, I went back to my roots of country with Garth and Brooks and Dunn, while “layin back” to Snoop Dogg, and snapping my fingers to Ole Blue Eyes.
And here I am now, in my father’s shoes some 30+ years later. DD hasn’t asked us yet why Dino calls everyone “baby”, or why I like this “noise” called NIN, but I’m sure she will. At some point, she’ll ask mommy what Bret means by “unskinny bop”, or why Reba always makes her smile. She’ll even ask Oz why they call Elton a bi…. um… Diva. 
And we’ll all have the answers for her. She knows the big band music pretty well by now. And if you sing Zip a Dee Doo Daa to her, she smile ear to ear…
I hope that, when she’s all grown up, perhaps with a baby of her own, she can be in the kitchen one morning and hear a simple guitar riff that will send her back to the day she asked her daddy what a flattop box is.
p.s. Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!
p.p.s We’ve moving all the pics over to flickr.
So often, as young parents, our lives get in the way of way more important things. Thank God we have children that remember these things to share back with us and give us smiles and heart tugs…thanks son