When Journey met Sandi Patty

If you knew my parents, you would understand the title. If not, then you might want to read.

I have always been musically and sexually influenced. Growing up, my dad was the cool dad who pissed all of the neighbors off because of his loud music and sarcastic trap, while my mom was what my friends called a MILF.

My mom should have had the option to stay in the 80's. Her favorite music ranges from Barry Manilow, and Sandi Patty to Blondie. She still acts like she is 18 years old on the inside, as well as shows it on the out. She wears revealing clothes, and she has tattoo's on her back, ankle, and hip. She still gets a thrill from doing things her mother would disapprove of like getting a belly button percing and is perfectly fine with her children doing the same. She styles her hair like Olivia Newton John, but has a southern accent from hell.

She tends to take jokes too seriously most of the time, but she wouldn't be mom if she played along. My mom is a quiet person when it comes to showing her emotions. She would rather sit there without saying a word so that she doesn't hurt anyone's feelings, instead of speaking up. It's sad, but true.

Nearly every weekend throughout my 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th grade career, I remember life being like a party. My parents would invite everybody and their mama over to grill out, drink a little, and jam. It was all good fun, and kept our family pretty close. My mom would dress up, put on make-up and just be hot like no one's business while my dad was the full time DJ. Everyone knew better than to touch the radio when dad put something in to listen to. It was almost like a laughable sin when they seen the 'deer in the headlight' expression on my dad's face that was always followed by 'Who in the hell touched my radio? They must have a death wish!' He never got mad, just joked around and picked on us about the 'crap' we, the kids, put in to listen to.

We would set up a strobe light in one room and dance until our hearts were too tuckered out to do anything else,or watch and listen to the older people sitting around outside on the patio, drinking, talking about good times, and laughing until we cried. The music was loud, the conversations were funny, and everyone went home happy, if they went home at all (sometimes people stayed at the house so that they didn't risk drinking or driving).

My dad is a truck driving classic rocker. He can tell you nearly any song title and artist you ask him, and then turn around and tell you exactly how to get to Kalamazoo. He is also a down home country boy with all the right stories to tell. A song for every story, a story for every song. My dad has his typical rotation of CD's. It strands from Poisons 'Greatest Hits', and Journey's 'The Essential Journey', to Brooks and Dunn's 'Red Dirt Road' album.

There are a couple of songs that my Dad would play in the middle of the evening's events that calms the mood some, and center's everyone's attention on life. Everyone typically knows that when those songs come on, that it's time to settle down and think of where their life is headed, or where it has been.

My Uncle, may he rest in peace, passed away a few years ago. There is a song by Kenny Chesney called 'Who you'd be today' and every time my Dad hears it, he sits flipping through memories in his head of his childhood, and cries like a baby.

My Grandmother, may God bless her soul, passed away only a few short months ago, and every time my Dad hears the song 'Bridge over Troubled Water' by Simon and Garfunkel, he again has tears streaming down his face, snot running from his nose looking back on the days where he and my Grandmother would sit beside the fence at the airport in SC with their picnic, and watch the airplanes take off and land all afternoon. My dad was always fascinated by planes, and flying, but the Air Force wouldn't accept him because he has only two finger's on one hand.

He has been a huge inspiration in my life. He shows his emotions, and isn't ashamed to do so. He just shows them in a different way. Rather than saying it out loud, he expresses himself through music.

Life wasn't always the pretty picture growing up. The parties that I spoke of before happened, but all we did was provide the space to do it in. The people that came brought the drinks, and most of the snacks. It didn't matter what is was or who it was, or even if they brought anything, just that we were all hanging out and having fun together. We didn't have a lot of money, and all of us children understood. We were raised to respect and love the things we had, because there is no promise for tomorrow. My mom hates this saying still today because my father is a truck driver and isn't home but on some weekends, and she doesn't like thinking about not having a tomorrow with him. My Dad lives by it because it's something my grandmother taught him and he is always traveling and trying not to lose track of what is important in life.

With the stress of raising kids, and getting caught up in life, my parents would of course have their meager arguments. It usually started with my Dad. He would say something stupid like the smart ass he is, my mom would get hurt feelings, and go to their room. He would then blast something like 'Second Chance' by .38 Special extremely loud throughout the house. About a minute into the song, she would slowly walk into the kitchen like some shy school girl, he would grab her, kiss her, and before you know it they were smiling at each other, and dancing around the kitchen like the were at prom. No matter what, by the end of the night they ended up dancing to Barry Manilow (My Mom's favorite artist of their time) and acting like nothing ever happened.

After they would go to bed, we listened for anymore music such as 'Love of a Lifetime' by Firehouse, or Mr. Bigs hit song 'To be with You' and we knew exactly what they were doing and reminded ourselves that we shouldn't go anywhere near their room for the next week; two weeks to be safe.


My parents have always been open with us children about sex, and they were always more than happy to gross us out every chance they got. I thank them for that. If they had not, then I would not know near as much as I know now.

It's only natural for my parents to pass down their traits to their children. I think I got the best end.

My oldest sister got the wits, and sense of humor from my dad and the compassion from my mom. She is probably one of the smartest, funniest, most tolerable people I will ever know. My oldest bother got the confidence from both parents, as did my second oldest sister. They both have bright future's ahead of them if they choose to follow what they believe in, and just keep going. My next brother got my daddy's 'life's too short' attitude. He lives his life one day at a time and thanks God for waking up the next.

I'm the baby, and I got to watch as I grew up. I watched everyone make mistakes, and fix what they had broken. Life was a big learning process for me.

They both passed down something very important to me. They have taught me that love is a big part of life, you shouldn't abuse it. They have also passed down their music traits. I listen to music like it's a religion, and I relate it to life. Being a teen fresh out of school, I need my family, but I need my music. It's how I express myself. There are so many songs that leap out me and say 'I know how you feel, you aren't alone' and when I hear them, I know that life will works itself out no matter how stressful things get. Music has been a huge part of my relationships as well. I was recently in a year and a half long distance relationship with a guy and based it off of a certain song. The song was 'Wait for you' by Theory of a Deadman, and I didn't realize how much I really listened to it until I didn't listen to it anymore. Music seems to be my trance. When things get bad, I turn on music and slip away from reality. The type of music depends on the situation. If I miss one of my parents, I listen to something they would listen to if they missed me. For my Mom, it would be 'Copa Cabana' -Barry Manilow. My Dad, Butterfly Kisses- Ray Carslise. If it's a relationship problem, I resort to rock songs that are full of pain and suffering. If it's life, I find a song like 'Something to believe in' by poison and rock out.

I just hope that my future husband likes music. If not, he is going to hate hearing 'I wanna sex you up' by Colorr Me Badd or 'Let's get it on' by Marvin Gaye when I get horny and want to have sex.


Thanks Mom and Dad. Sometimes, you guys rock.