Yesterday would have been Dad’s 84th birthday. I have a hard time believing it has been 12 years since he passed away. Many things remind me of him, and make me smile and make me miss him, all at the same time.
Last night for example…we were at my brother Pat’s home. Pat popped in a cd of classic country music, as he knew these songs would bring back memories. And, oh my, they did. Songs like “Convoy” by C.W. McCall, “It’s Hard to be Humble” by Mac Davis, “Smoke! Smoke! Smoke!” by Tex Williams, “Spiders & Snakes” by Jim Stafford, and “May the Bird of Paradise” by Little Jimmy Dickens. I can remember listening to these songs as a child as we were either riding in the car or in our kitchen at home. Those were really the only two places dad had a radio, except for his little portable radio he’d listen to sometimes as he was in the bathroom shaving. Dad liked country music. I’m not sure he’d like it today, but he liked it back then.
For some of these songs I knew the words, and from somewhere back in my memory, I recalled them and could sing along with them. For some I knew the tune, but couldn’t recall the words. Pat and I laughed and laughed at some of the lyrics! (I couldn’t believe the chorus of Convoy sounded like it did, because as a kid, I thought that was a pretty cool song…it sounded more funny than cool last night.) And watching our kids’ reactions to the tunes and lyrics were priceless!
I’m sure Dad would still love hearing those songs come across the radio today (if you can find them anywhere), and he would have enjoyed our trip down the country music memory lane last night…especially on his birthday. 🙂
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