The Gift of Music

I remember my 14th birthday like it was yesterday. It wasn't the chocolate cake that my mother made; it wasn't the trip to Mazzio's Pizza; it wasn't my 10-year old brother throwing up in the car on the way home from school that day (although that was quite interesting). What made it most memorable is that this was the ONLY birthday I ever had where I specifically asked for a gift...and actually got it.

A stroll down the halls of my junior high was a parade of the have's and the have not's (I was a have not). The haves wore Izods; I wore the dreaded Fox (I think that was from JC Penney). The have's wore button-fly 501's; my fly zipped. The haves wore white leather Nike's (with the red swoosh); I was still wearing Stadia. The haves owned a Sony Walkman...and I didn't.

Oh, to be a "have!" I would never be a fashion plate. I would never be the envy of Kristi Black, Kelley Green, Maria Cox, or a slew of other girls I stared at during Algebra. My parents could never see spending that type of money on clothes. "It's what's on the inside that counts," my mother would say. AAAGH!!!

But I COULD do something about securing that much coveted musical apparatus. The retail price on one of those little dolls was $79.95...but I was determined to save all that I could scrape together in order to meet that goal.

Then came January 31, 1984.............

The chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream had hardly been swept aside when my mother proudly strode into the dining room with two presents. An eerie silence fell over the room as all eyes became fixed on me. I moved slowly towards the first present, savoring each moment as though it were my last. I quickly tore into the larger present, praying that it was the prize I so desperately sought. Tears streamed down my face as I saw the word "SONY" stamped in the upper left corner of the box. The rest of the paper seemed to melt off the package. I ran around the room like Jim Valvano following the last-second putback by Lorenzo Charles looking to hug someone.

I opened the box, fumbling to plug in headphones and install batteries (Yes, I even got batteries!!!). I was prepared to incinerate my ear drums....but wait, what music should I choose???

It was then that I saw the second gift. I caressed the second gift, for it was obvious that it required significant tenderness. Delicately I removed the tape from each end and quietly folded back the paper. And there it was......"Fascination" by The Human League.

Oh, how I wish I could've shared the musical delight with everyone in the room. I skipped in a circle throughout the house singing "passion burning, love so strong" then quickly moving to the highly underrated follow-up song "Mirror Man."

I could barely sleep that night. I was like a child the night before Christmas...only my Christmas had already arrived.

So this evening...I go to the store and buy my wife a MP3 player for Mother's Day. It's the size of one of the cassettes that went in a Sony Walkman. And just for old time's sake...I purchased a Walkman....for a mere $7.95!!!