"Vintage" was once "New"

To my children, I've always been old. At least "older." To them, I've always been the responsible and capable one who took care of their needs. My life revolved around them; my fun was whatever they were doing. In other words, I never had a life!

But that's not true. Though it's hard to believe, I was young once. In fact, much of the "vintage music" my kids listen to is really just remakes of the songs that came out while I was in junior and senior high. I'll never forget how my daughter hushed me at a coffee shop to listen to "Stairway to Heaven."

"Isn't that song cool, Mom, " she said.
"Yeah, it was the theme song for our prom," I replied.
"Eww! You just ruined this song for me," she whined.



The other night after watching a family movie we flipped through the channels looking for the evening news. We came across an infomercial in which Tony Orlando was selling a set of CD's of 70's music. My husband and I were captivated. Somewhere in the recesses of our memories were stored the melodies and lyrics of these songs. Between the two of us, we knew every song and artist showcased.

Our youngest children were begging us to change the channel, but we wouldn't. The Commodores, Helen Reddy and Paul McCartny were singing our songs. Roberta Flack, John Denver and Barry Manilow were reminding us that we weren't always gray and wrinkled. Anne Murray, Bread and Linda Ronstadt had us singing out loud with them in the den (much to our children's dismay)


When Tony Orlando came on the screen offering us an incredible deal on this "once in a lifetime collection of the world's greatest music" we briefly looked at each other. Don't worry, we didn't seriously consider dropping almost $200 to bring the past to our own CD players. However, for a brief moment that quick trip down memory lane made us young again for a few moments .....