Ok. So I don't remember the day that I fell in love with Country Music. Wait!!! Maybe I do. I was experiencing a growing fascination with a genre of music that I didn't know a thing about and lyrics I couldn't relate to if I tried. I wasn't sure what was so great about East Tennessee, I had never gone swimming in a creek or watering hole, didn't know what a two-step was, or, AHEM.... why there would EVER be a tear in someone's beer (much less motivation to write a song about it)! Maybe peer pressure was one of the reasons I had always hated country music. Maybe the other reason was that I grew up listening to Nas, Cormega, Biggie, Puffy, Tu Pac, Da Brat and the Fugees! lol. Didn't see that one coming did you?
Anyway, back to the story... I grew up with a GREAT family and a safe home environment, but outside of that I saw and experienced quite a war zone. Sometimes, I made good decisions and sometimes some were not too smart, but I mostly stayed out of trouble. I went to large schools with kids from every imaginable background and ethnicity. I was able to view plenty of people's lives up close, friends, peers, their parents, many who led lives I was pretty sure I didn't want when I got older. My friends dealt with their parent's nasty divorces, got an abortion at a young age or went into High School struggling with an alcohol/Pornography or Drug addiction. My parents decided to adopt and at age 9 I acquired a sister who was...9 too! We could've been twins, if we hadn't been as different as night and day in every way, starting with skin color. My sister was African-American. I was Caucasian. She grew up with enough odds stacked against her it would make your head spin. I had both parents who loved each other and 3 doting and loving older brothers. Together she and I started the journey of adolescence trying to do our best to navigate the challenges of adolescence, transracial adoption and how God fit into our life, decisions and view of ourselves. More on that later...
Fast forward to the day I fell in love... with Country Music. It was 2009 and I was living in a small town in Southern Virginia in my parent's home again. I was a college grad, had lived in NYC for a couple years, spent 7 months living and traveling in Italy, France and Switzerland and was currently a 25 year old, frustrated MBA student having a "Quarter Life Crisis". I had many rich life experiences to that point, joys, heartbreak, new relationships, personal growth, intimate lessons on grace and forgiveness, new friends, loss and a challenged perspective of my trust in God and his timing. I had decided to move back home with my parents for a time and rest my weary spirit. Shortly after I moved home a self-acclaimed "Farm Boy" from Pennsylvania became a good friend of mine. He had such a zest and infectious appreciation for the simple things in life that I had lost track of. The heart of life wasn't supposed to be as complicated as it had become for me. He insisted that Country Music was "God's Music" (ha!) and couldn't believe I had never listened to any of it. We took a drive in the mountains one fall day enjoying the change of leaves and cool weather. His quest was to create a country music lover out of a city girl like me. He played a couple songs and explained the meaning of the lyrics and many were really sweet stories. one of them was a song that I could relate to! It was like a spirit balm for me. I was on a search for a fresh God, for what my purpose was in life and for a new identity as I entered a new season of life in womanhood. What was next for me? Where had I come from and where was I going?
Disclaimer: When Kenny Chesney wrote the song I think he was confused and meant to use the Yankees Baseball Cap and New York in the subject line...
Boston by Kenny Chesney
"She comes from Boston, works at the jewelry store
Down in the harbor, where the ferries come to shore
She never really knew how good it would feel
To finally find herself in a place, so warm and real
She wears a Red Sox cap to hide her baby dreads
The girl she was in New England, is different now and dead
In all the local bars, she flirts and tells the boys
While they're talking, she's from Boston
She comes from Boston, talks to her family, now and then
Through e-mails and post-cards, she tries to explain to them
That education and occupation will have to wait for now
She loves the Rosta Reggae rhythms, her dreams have changed somehow
She wears a Red Sox cap to hide her baby dreads
The girl she was in New England, is different now and dead
In all the local bars, she flirts and tells the boys
While they're talking, she's from Boston
Her toes dig deep and deeper in the sand
She's seduced by the sunsets and her new life at hand
She wears a Red Sox cap to hide her baby dreads
The girl she was in New England, is different now and dead
In all the local bars, she flirts and tells the boys
While they're talking, she's from Boston
She wears a Red Sox cap to hide her baby dreads
From Boston
She came to this island from Boston"
This song was about a girl like me who wanted to get out of the city and go to a carefree place where she could meet new people and have some new experiences. She kept a piece of the city identity with her, but she let the sunsets and the simple joys of life seduce her and give her a new vision for life.
That girl sure sounded a lot like me.
Anyway, back to the story... I grew up with a GREAT family and a safe home environment, but outside of that I saw and experienced quite a war zone. Sometimes, I made good decisions and sometimes some were not too smart, but I mostly stayed out of trouble. I went to large schools with kids from every imaginable background and ethnicity. I was able to view plenty of people's lives up close, friends, peers, their parents, many who led lives I was pretty sure I didn't want when I got older. My friends dealt with their parent's nasty divorces, got an abortion at a young age or went into High School struggling with an alcohol/Pornography or Drug addiction. My parents decided to adopt and at age 9 I acquired a sister who was...9 too! We could've been twins, if we hadn't been as different as night and day in every way, starting with skin color. My sister was African-American. I was Caucasian. She grew up with enough odds stacked against her it would make your head spin. I had both parents who loved each other and 3 doting and loving older brothers. Together she and I started the journey of adolescence trying to do our best to navigate the challenges of adolescence, transracial adoption and how God fit into our life, decisions and view of ourselves. More on that later...
Fast forward to the day I fell in love... with Country Music. It was 2009 and I was living in a small town in Southern Virginia in my parent's home again. I was a college grad, had lived in NYC for a couple years, spent 7 months living and traveling in Italy, France and Switzerland and was currently a 25 year old, frustrated MBA student having a "Quarter Life Crisis". I had many rich life experiences to that point, joys, heartbreak, new relationships, personal growth, intimate lessons on grace and forgiveness, new friends, loss and a challenged perspective of my trust in God and his timing. I had decided to move back home with my parents for a time and rest my weary spirit. Shortly after I moved home a self-acclaimed "Farm Boy" from Pennsylvania became a good friend of mine. He had such a zest and infectious appreciation for the simple things in life that I had lost track of. The heart of life wasn't supposed to be as complicated as it had become for me. He insisted that Country Music was "God's Music" (ha!) and couldn't believe I had never listened to any of it. We took a drive in the mountains one fall day enjoying the change of leaves and cool weather. His quest was to create a country music lover out of a city girl like me. He played a couple songs and explained the meaning of the lyrics and many were really sweet stories. one of them was a song that I could relate to! It was like a spirit balm for me. I was on a search for a fresh God, for what my purpose was in life and for a new identity as I entered a new season of life in womanhood. What was next for me? Where had I come from and where was I going?
Disclaimer: When Kenny Chesney wrote the song I think he was confused and meant to use the Yankees Baseball Cap and New York in the subject line...
Boston by Kenny Chesney
"She comes from Boston, works at the jewelry store
Down in the harbor, where the ferries come to shore
She never really knew how good it would feel
To finally find herself in a place, so warm and real
She wears a Red Sox cap to hide her baby dreads
The girl she was in New England, is different now and dead
In all the local bars, she flirts and tells the boys
While they're talking, she's from Boston
She comes from Boston, talks to her family, now and then
Through e-mails and post-cards, she tries to explain to them
That education and occupation will have to wait for now
She loves the Rosta Reggae rhythms, her dreams have changed somehow
She wears a Red Sox cap to hide her baby dreads
The girl she was in New England, is different now and dead
In all the local bars, she flirts and tells the boys
While they're talking, she's from Boston
Her toes dig deep and deeper in the sand
She's seduced by the sunsets and her new life at hand
She wears a Red Sox cap to hide her baby dreads
The girl she was in New England, is different now and dead
In all the local bars, she flirts and tells the boys
While they're talking, she's from Boston
She wears a Red Sox cap to hide her baby dreads
From Boston
She came to this island from Boston"
This song was about a girl like me who wanted to get out of the city and go to a carefree place where she could meet new people and have some new experiences. She kept a piece of the city identity with her, but she let the sunsets and the simple joys of life seduce her and give her a new vision for life.
That girl sure sounded a lot like me.
This is awesome, Sugar! Your writing continues to grow with you ... what a joy to behold. This blog will one day become your first book ... mark my words. :-) Love you SO MUCH!!
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