1979 and a Big Lifelong Love Affair

Mom & Dad & Me: 1976

I'm building a new playlist tonight to put on the ole' blog here--something autumnal and delightful and I've been bouncing all over Playlist.com while doing it.

It doesn't really matter how I got to the website... "The Top 100 Seventies Singles," what matters is all of the awesomeness that I found there. What matters is the re-acquaintance with all types of auditory delights from my childhood. What matters is that I remembered that my parents use to go Disco Dancing down in Brazil...yup...my parents did a little titch of clubbing in their time.

What matters is I remember the crazy love my parents were in when I was a little kid.

In 1979 my mom was a goddess and my dad was the world. They were perfect and bigger than life, because frankly, you're little--and they are your life. They are your tether to food, clothing, roof, love and everything else you need and want--they can crush you and you're glad when they don't.

Before I digress too far along, these are the Top 10 Singles of 1979:

1."My Sharona" - The Knack
2."Le Freak" - Chic
3."Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?" - Rod Stewart
4."Bad Girls" - Donna Summer
5."YMCA" - Village People
6."Reunited" - Peaches and Herb
7."Ring My Bell" - Anita Ward
8."I Will Survive" - Gloria Gaynor
9."Too Much Heaven" - Bee Gees
10."Hot Stuff" - Donna Summer

Oh, I know every one of these songs--and I have loved them for over 30 years. Yes, I know I just totally dated myself but who cares, I've decided to embrace my age, I've earned it and there is no time machine, and because of that--time marches on and waits for no man or balking woman.

Anyway...

I remember my mom getting dressed up in this beautiful pink ensemble and stiletto dancing heels, her hair curled and fluffed, her makeup on, and her lipstick just so, waiting to go out with my dad. I remember my dad coming home and getting ready to go out and he always smelled so good when he would hug us goodnight as they were ready to head out. His suit jacket making that one rustley sound of the lining against the fabric, and his beard tickling my face.

I remember how my mom's eyes would sparkle and she would be all smiles and off they would go-- leaving smatterings and twinklings of the excitement (that those who are heading out to a party and a great evening have)along with a touch of eau de parfum in their wake as the door closed behind them.

What's not to love about a night out, dressed to the nines, with your love, good food, good music and dancing? If you haven't ever done it...might be something new to try out.

Now, don't fool yourself that good times dancing were reserved for outside of the home only...nah, nah, nah--there was plenty of twirling, dancing, dipping, laughing and all manner of music and mayhem in the house. My dad would come downstairs, usually on a Saturday morning, and the music would come on and it was so much fun.

Now kids--this was back in the day, back in olden times, where you had a lot of records, still used a record player, and if you were lucky, and oh yes we were, you just might have a reel-to-reel player in your house. These were pre-CD/pre-iPod and etc., days.

On these Saturday mornings, with sun streaming in through all of the windows, breakfast smells wafting from the kitchen, the chatter of grown ups and laughter, music and dancing, you would wake up and **feel** the electricity of life coursing through you. My dad would play everything (The Doors, The Beach Boys, Santana, The Beatles, Queen, Sergio Mendes, Disco mixes, John Lennon, Elton John, Neil Sedaka, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass Band, the soundtrack from Star Wars or The Empire Strikes Back or Raiders of the Lost Ark or The Blues Brothers or Xanadu or any number of other movies) and he would take requests, and at some point he would play the music from the Electrical Light Parade from Disneyland that he had recorded some time in 1974, and we would dance with nostalgia and delight. (Now that he is gone, the music from the Electrical Light Parade has caught me off guard to the tune of unexpectedly spilled tears...but no sadness...we're remembering sunny Saturday mornings full of joy and delight.) Music mornings make me happy to this day. Sometimes Beloved will do the same, and I'm not kidding when I say it is hand's-down, one of the most glorious and delightful ways to wake up. :D

Since I'm tripping down memory lane--my parents love for each other was constantly glowing...like a rock heated up by a bonfire that just sits there glowing and smoldering. Our house was full of "I love you's," hugs and kisses and that was just the kids. Sometimes my dad would come sweeping down into the kitchen and grab my mom around the waist and twirl her around kissing her, and if we were lucky, he would dip her, kiss her and turn and give us all a big smile and say "I LOVE YOUR MOM!" There was never any doubt that she was first in his book and that he loved her.

Growing up there was always music and good food, happiness, laughter, joy and you knew you were loved. Yeah, we got in trouble like all kids do, and just because there was a lot of laughter it doesn't mean there weren't ever bent feelers or tears, because there were...I mean I was 13 and 15 and 17 just like any other girl, but it was a good home, a good place to grow up.

One of the things I'm particularly grateful for, especially in those early formative years, was the example of love and friendship that my parents exhibited towards each other. Seeing a man and a woman who were different in so many ways, find commonalities, showing a love and interest and respect for each other, and building a life together, that was a great gift I had in my life as a child. They weren't perfect, but to me they were the world.

As I grew older I went through the usual phases of selfishness and complaint and critique like most kids do, but now that things have mellowed, now that I am the age they were when I was in my teens (my dad was 40 when I was 16 and my mom was 39) I see things a little differently. It's funny how age really does give you some perspective if you allow it to. Some of the things they did and said make sense to me now, where at the time I was outraged on a number of occasions because of their words or their actions. I get it now. If I had a 16 year old I probably would have said a lot of similar things.

A lot of things have changed and morphed through the years. My family has moved from here to there and back again. The kids have grown up, gone to school, gotten real jobs, gotten married, had kids--they are living their lives, probably loving and laughing and eating good food and simultaneously astonishing and annoying their kids just like our parents did to us. My dad has since passed on into the next great adventure after this life here on this whirling planet, and my mom is just as kooky and sweet and free-spirited as ever.

Despite all of the change though, there has been one constant through the thick and the thin alike...my parents were crazy about each other--and even though he's not around where we can talk to him and see him, I'm guessing my dad's still crazy about my mom, she's definitely still crazy about him and is holding a big, fat, brightly glowing candle full of love for him until they can be together again. I think he's probably got a big blue-green eyeball watching out for her until they meet again.

I'm glad I was blessed with their example of love and companionship and friendship. I definitely haven't come across anyone else quite like them and I'm glad that I am theirs and that they are mine.

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage."--Lao Tzu

Much love Mom and Dad ~ I couldn't have become me, without you.