Friday, December 5, 2008

One more memory



I've been writing a song... unbelievable I know but this one I'm especially excited about.  

A couple days ago I had this memory pop into my mind.  It was one of my first memories and one of the happiest I've known since.  

My dad used to have this old, green mg complete with torn vinyl seats and rusty floors.  It was incredible.  As broken down as it was I still wish we had that car.  

Being the only girl of four, I didn't get much time with my dad so when he suggested going for a ride in his rust bucket of a vehicle I jumped at the opportunity.  He was taking me for a ride in the mg and I was going to sit in the front seat with my hands gripping the door handle and window all the way down just to let the breeze run wildly through my hair.  I wasn't even tall enough to see out the window.  The only thing in view from my sticky throne was the sky and some branches and I thought to myself, "This is heaven - my dad by my side and nothing to see but sky".  It felt like I was flying. 

I've never told my dad how much that day meant to me and it was easy to forget when other car rides piled on top of it - car rides to ballet, to lacrosse, to choir, to band, car rides to college and back, car rides with difficult questions to answer.

That ride was the beginning of many but it embodies the unique relationship this man and I share.  

It's protection.  It's challenging.  It's inspiring.  It's what I needed when I didn't want it.  It's realizing there is someone else just like me who doesn't care whether I failed a test or whether I sing the right words to Paul Simon songs.  It's the feeling of knowing there is someone riding right beside you who looks at the world the same way you do and treasures the view from an old car.

Long ago we got rid of the car and on that day my dad and I both cried.

Here it is:

It's the first time I'm going with you
It's the first time I'd even dare
The whole world passes by without a care
Gonna breathe it all in I swear

I'm too small they say
for the will that drives me on
I'm too wild they say
to contend as just a pawn
so I'll go, go, go until I'm gone

My happiest day would be 
not seeing what's ahead
The two of us not knowing where it's gonna end
and our futures charging the wind

I don't know the way
to live life on my own
I'm afraid to
race on all alone
but I still go, go, go until I'm gone

It's time that I hate
It's what's done me in
Oh the line we must walk all of us balancing
but if I look at you I forget where I've been
and we go, go, go until we're gone




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