in the moment

My mom is wonderful. We have a great time together.

This is about my dad.

******

Dad is a big fan of music. Growing up, I used to sit in the living room while Dad played records. Big, shining vinyl LP records. And what a collection he had. Cream, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, The Doors, Blind Faith, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, The Eagles, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Bob Seger..... He would play them, and I would listen. He would tell me about the songs and the artists and why he liked them, and I would listen.

Eventually I would play the records even when he wasn't there. I figured out what I liked and why I liked it. And I would tell Dad. And he would listen.

Turns out we had pretty similar tastes. (With a few notable exceptions.....)

We still "trade music" to this day. He'll tell me about new bands he's listening to, and I'll do the same. (Only now we burn CDs for each other.)

******

Music is part of the blood that runs through my veins. Kind of like Dad.

But while he is - in quotes - phasing concerts out of his life, I'm trying to get to as many as I can.

And when I heard that Eric Clapton was bringing his Crossroads Guitar Festival to our neck of the woods, I knew that, as much as I wanted to go, I wanted to take Dad even more.

I didn't think he'd say yes, but I asked anyway. "Dad, would you like to go to the Crossroads Festival?" I sent him the link to the website. He read through the line-up - Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, Keb Mo', Steve Winwood, Vince Gill, Albert Lee, BB King, Robert Randolph, Eric Clapton, ZZ Top, and on and on. He got back to me and said yes, he thought he'd like to go.

I smiled all day.

*******

My grandma (Dad's mom) and I were close when I was a little girl. And forever the song Lay Down Sally by Eric Clapton will be associated with her.

And I said to Hubby, a few days before Crossroads, that I was sure we would hear Lay Down Sally that day. I felt certain that, with Dad and I there together, Grandma would make her presence known, too.

That thought stayed in the back of my head.

********

The Crossroads Guitar Festival started at 12 noon and went all day, ending somewhere around 11 at night.

It was hot. Very hot.

Every now and again, we had to get up and move around. Go stretch our legs. Spend $5 on a bottle of water. No one can sit in the blazing sun for 12 hours straight, after all.

In general, Dad would head off with UB (who came along as well) while Hubby and I guarded our seats, then we'd switch.

We kept shuffling around all day.

At one point, Hubby and I were up and about, and we heard Vince Gill being introduced. That was one section of the show I was really looking forward to, so we headed back to our seats as quickly as possible in a crowd of multi-thousands.

When we got back to our seats and plopped down, I found myself sitting by Dad for the first (and, it would turn out, only) time that day.

And we all watched the set. Keb Mo' came out on stage. Albert Lee joined in. Sheryl Crow showed up, too. Feet tapped, hands clapped, there was a bit of singing along.

And as it was winding down, Vince Gill said they wanted to do one for the host of the day, one of Clapton's songs.

Lay Down Sally.

********

Sometimes a moment comes along, and you don't realize it was "a moment" until later. But sometimes, if you're really lucky, you know it's "a moment" in the moment.

Sitting in the middle of a soccer stadium, under streaming afternoon sunshine, watching music legends, with my Dad, while my Grandma (his Mom) said hello.....

I was definitely in a moment.

And I knew it.

**********

Happy Father's Day, Dad. I hope you liked your gift.


(Definitely better than a gift card for the local coffee shop.)


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tell it to me tuesdays