Music and Laughter...

So it's been a week since our family grew, a week since my new brother and I sat across the table from each other. Each of us looking for something familiar in the other, the eyes, the nose, the mouth... maybe the mannerisms. Hmm, not much really, at least at first I didn't think so until the pictures went up on facebook and on my blog and people started saying that we had the same smile. That's nice, a smile is a good thing to share.
So in the week that has passed I have been going round and round (a good song from the 80's right?) trying to figure out where I was heading next on here, what story did I want to tell now. I think it needs to be another uplifting story.
The reason I titled this "Music and Laughter" is because my childhood was full of both. I know what you are thinking "hmm, music, laughter and death maybe" but honestly as difficult as it has been to lose so many loved ones when I look at the big picture and think back the moments of sadness, the grief and the controversy are all so overshadowed by the good times that it makes it so much easier to get through it all.
My Dad was one of the funniest people I have ever met. His twin brother, totally funny too. They have friends that used to have arguments/discussions about which one was funnier, sometimes my Dad would win and sometimes Uncle Don would win. My Dad's sense of humor was VERY dry, not the slapstick, obvious funny but the subtle, a little sarcastic, usually at the expense of somebody else kind of humor. Usually my Mom ended up being his straight man, sometimes it was me, Danny or Mike. We all often fell victim, but because he was so funny we let it go. I loved that no matter what we were going through there was always something about the situation that would be funny. As much fun as my Dad made fun of all of us he also was humble enough to poke fun at himself. He knew his weaknesses and was willing to admit what they were and make himself the butt of his jokes sometimes, although this usually only happened when he was trying to make up with my Mom after totally offending her or embarassing her in front of their friends.
Music was the other constant in our lives. I grew up listening to jazz, disco, rock and pop. My Dad was a big jazz fan. He played the sax and the conga drums. My brother Mike played the guitar, he was self taught and hardly ever put the thing down. He played electric and acoustic. There are so many songs that I hear that can instantly take me back to a moment in time and make me feel like I am reliving it. I have tried to do the same thing with my kids. I have even introduced them to some of my Dad's music. I am proud to say that both of my girls know the King Pleasure song 'Moody's mood for love'. It's a song that my Dad loved and they have ended up loving too. I often tell the story about how I loved Shaun Cassidy when I was young, in the late 70's but he wasn't very cool according to Mike. I so distinctly remember an incident where Mike and his friends (who all listened to hard rock) were in his room and I was in my room "rocking" out to Da Do Run Run and realized that it was kinda goofy so I knock on his bedroom door and say "hey Mike, can I um borrow your Black Sabbath album?" Seriously, Black Sabbath? What was I thinking? I mean Kiss would have been okay but Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath? Who was I kidding? They knew I was going back to my room to check out Leif Garrett, Shaun, and the Bee Gee's! I just so wanted to fit in with these cooler, older boys. Especially one in particular... Doug Huff. He was dreamy with his long blond hair and his corduroy OP shorts. He was my first crush and I so desperately wanted to impress him with my music taste!

Now that I am all grown up and raising my own kids we listen to what they like and what we like. Sometimes what they like ends up being my favorite and vice versa. I love Kid Rock so my kids were kind of forced to become fans! As we drive on trips we all sing along to whatever we are listening to, whether it be Elton John or The Black Eyed Peas it's something we do together that bonds us and absolutely creates wonderful memories.