Echo's Of The Past

Do you ever just sit, maybe while you're drinking your morning coffee, or when the house is empty and you're the only one there, and for once, the television is not blaring and no one is calling your name; do you ever just drift back in time to memories that have been locked away so long, you forgot they were there? 

2004 I’m sitting in a high school gym listening to my oldest son give the speech of his life; his Valedictorian speech. The mountains he climbed to get there, the battles he silently fought; many will never know. To be different, one must be strong; he is Hercules.

2000 My youngest son smacks his first hit off of a tee-stand. His skinny little legs are going as fast as they can go. His helmet is so heavy on his little head, I am wondering as he runs, how he holds his head up. Still today, he is one of the most determined men I know.

1972 My PaPa has passed away. The Barbie Head I got for Christmas just that morning, is on my dresser. In the dark it looks like a person and I cannot sleep, because it scares me. I put it in my closet so I wouldn’t be scared anymore; of ghosts.

1982 The group Alabama is performing in Albany. The biggest country music group of my time and the tickets went on sale that morning. While I was at work, my mother stood outside in a mile-long line, in the wind, sleeting rain and cold, to buy my tickets. She could not even feel her feet when it was over. I tell my boys all the time, what mothers do for their children; they still really have no idea.  

1978 Me and my grandmother are in a used/trade bookstore. I am teaching her all about the Archie comics and she is teaching me about Mark Twain and Huckleberry Finn.

1980 Its February and our family vacation was in Gatlinburg Tn. We rode in a glass tram taking us across the mountain to a beautiful restaurant, with live entertainment. Between the snow and the Swiss dancers, it was the most magical vacation of my life.  

1990 Santa brought my oldest son a guitar, he discovered CMT, and he would stand in front of our television and play that guitar for hours. For three months, at four years old, he WAS country music.

2006 We’re exchanging vows; me, for the last time in my life. Both of my boys are giving me away to the man they have been calling their Daddy for years.  

2002 My youngest is playing Tiny Mites football and I’m watching Coach Joey Edwards hold their attention like no other adult could; and I wonder, where he gets that magic from?

Then it's over; my family comes rolling back in the house and the noise begins. The memory door closes until another time, when peace and quiet take hold, and my mind finds comfort in what used to be.