Connection in The dotted line

My Dad seemingly knows every word to every song from the 60s and 70s, including all of the major showtunes.

I never knew he loved music so much and had such a diverse range, but since we got him a DAB radio, we've had a live vocalist singing at the top of his voice every morning and afternoon. It warms my heart so much to hear him, it makes him so happy.

He seems to love music as much as I do. As a teenager I would record my favourite songs from the radio onto my tapes (as everyone did) then stop/start the playback over and over and over until I'd managed to write down all of the lyrics. In later years, I even typed some lyrics out using our fancy 386 PC and printed them on our dot matrix printer.. I still have those print outs today!

And it never leaves you. You pull out old albums that you've not heard in many years, and put them on and you're transported. You still know every word. You still love every chord change.

Except I'm older now, with more worldly experience and every now and then I'll hear an old song with new ears and it will hit even deeper than it did before.

I love the familiarity, the connection from old to new, the life changing journey I've been on to get here and the feeling of meeting an old friend back on the other side. It feels grounding and heart-warming.

I also love how music can be the gateway to both understanding and expressing how one's feeling. We don't always have the ability or opportunity to connect with ourselves and get to the core of how we feel. But the right song in the right moment can be like a super highway to ones self.

For my Dad, this has many benefits, as the music releases all sort of feelings that he may otherwise have not been able to articulate. Moments of celebratory euphoria, care-free happiness, the weight of loss and thoughtful reflection are all felt and sung out, courtesy of the radio.

In many ways I think I am in the golden era of my life. I can see further loss looming on the (hopefully far-away) horizon and it reminds me to be grateful for everything I have today. Such as the companionship of 3 of our 4 parents, that my Dad is relaxed and happy, that we have lovely friends, that we're financially secure and very thankfully, that we still have our health.

And although I still have many more mountains to move before I fully become the person I'd like to be, I hope I'm mostly doing right by all of the people that I love. I am forever grateful for the love, patience, kindness, humour, guidance and wisdom they have shown me.