For most of my life I’ve said a song can take you places you’ve been or forgotten.
Tonight has been one of those nights. For the first time in months Shari is out of town for meetings. For too many years these nights were normal but since she left Cracker Barrel they have become a rarity.
My night started pretty much as usual - something to eat knowing I had to eat and then to Cooney’s to watch sports and bullshit with some friends. An enjoyable night seeing good friends and some I haven’t seen in awhile.
Since it was an Irish music night I moved to the other end of the bar to watch baseball. Without exception things were like any other night at Cooney's.
Upon arriving home I choose to listen to music, something I did a lot when Shari traveled, I had a text from a friend sharing his favorite YouTube video. It was a George Jones song/video (“Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes”) I’d never seen/heard it before but good none the less. The connection was a number #1 song by Jones “He Stopped Loving Her Today” from a few days ago.
As with YouTube it will continues to play music from the genre you were listening to. I heard some Brooks and Dunn, Tracy Byrd, Alan Jackson and a few others. Songs I never knew before meeting Shari.
Then a couple songs came up that had significant memories with Shari. Vince Gills “I Still Believe In You.” George Strait’s “I Cross My Heart,” Chris Young’s “The Man I Want To Be” and John Michael Montgomery’s “I Swear” which was the song we danced to almost 30 years ago on a Friday the 13th.
Again music puts you in a place you’ve forgotten or a situation that makes you say, “Damn it!.” Then up comes “If Tomorrow Never Comes” by Garth Brooks.
All of these are songs I’ve sung along to, danced to some, but haven’t thought about in years. Songs that reflect so much of my life, my partnership and who I am since 1991. I’d never thought a country song would tell a story of my life but then I never gave them a chance.
I’ve written before about the lose of my parents and the thoughts I carry with me everyday. The questions I wished I’d asked and the answers I live without. The song by Brooks has a couple of lines that sparked this whole essay.
I share some of the the lyrics with you and hope that they make you think as it did me……
“…. I’ve lost love ones in my life
Who never knew how much I loved them
Now I live with regret
That my true feelings for them were never revealed
So I made a promise to myself
To say each day how much she means to me
Avoid that circumstance
Where there’s no chance to tell her I feel”
“Will she know how much I loved her
Did I try in every way to show her every day
That she’s my only one
And if my time on earth were through
Is the love I gave her in the past
Gonna be enough to last
If tomorrow never some?”
Life is precious with no guarantees….
“So tell that someone you love
Just what you’re thinking of
If tomorrow nicer come.”
Garth Brooks: “If Tomorrow Never Comes”
October 18, 2023
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