My First Album

I was fortunate to grow up with older brothers who had an unbelievable record collection that I was allowed to access as I wished -- as long I followed very strict guidelines (only hold albums by the edges, dust the albums each and every use, inspect the needle and drop it ever so gently, return the album to its rightful place, etc.) It was heaven. Even so, any little sibling wants to put their own stamp on things, not just listen to "hand me downs". For me, that moment came in about 2nd or 3rd grade. I finally desired for my own first album. But I was little and didn't have $7 to buy it. Mark stepped in to save the day. "What album would you like?" he asked. "REO Speedwagon." His disappointment (abject horror?) was evident, but he lovingly obliged knowing the larger narrative that was at play. Coming out of the record store he said sweetly and in jest, "Don't ever tell anyone I bought that album for you, okay?" Through the years I defied the rules and told the story many times over. Because like Mark, I knew the larger narrative at play.

PS) I, too, have abject horror when I think about listening to REO Speedwagon. By 4th grade I had moved on to Blondie, by 5th grade the Pretenders, by 6th grade I knew every word to Pink Floyd's "The Wall." So everything turned out just fine.