What's with all the music video posts?

My Mom grew up dirt poor in North Dakota. She was born during the Depression and her father died when she was two years old, leaving her and her two older brothers and mother to eck out a living during that difficult time. It was a hard time for a lot of folks, but I believe that it helped to form a resiliency in my Mom that she carried with her throughout her life. My Mom was not a complainer, but a do-er.

One thing my Mom desperately wanted was to learn to play the piano. One year for Christmas she got six piano lessons as a gift. They didn't own a piano, so she had to receive her lessons and do all her practicing at church. She learned so much in such a short time that by that spring she was playing the piano for church services. She continued to play until she graduated and moved away.

Mom played the piano the rest of her life, learning new skills and stretching her knowledge and skills all the time. She was a good pianist, too. She shared this love of music with all four of her kids, and with her grandkids (who were here before she died).

One of the things my family enjoyed in the 60's were musical variety shows, such as The Dean Martin Hour, The Smothers Brother Comedy Hour, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Lawrence Welk Show, The Red Skelton Hour, The Carol Burnett Show, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, The Jackie Gleason Show, The "Tennessee" Ernie Ford Show, The Johnny Cash Show, The Andy Williams Show. In the 70's Sonny and Cher and Donny and Marie were big hits as well.

Because of this background of exposure to a variety of music, I grew up appreciating lots of forms of music. Thanks, Mom, for insisting we at least listen to the music.

Of course, with two teenaged sisters at that time, I was also exposed to a variety of popular music at the time. One sister was into "rock" such as Janis Joplin, Three Dog Night, Cream, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Doors, Jimi Hendriz, Led Zepplin.

The other sister was into more tame sounding stuff like The Lovin' Spoonful, The Bee Gees, The Beach Boys, Herman's Hermits, The Association, Paul Mauriat (Love is Blue), Simon and Garfunkel.

Our middle daughter tried out for American Idol last August. She didn't make the cut, but plans to return again this year. So, as a family, we watch American Idol together, and the new season began this week. That's what brought up this trip down memory lane with music.

It touched me that when I asked K who she would consider were her musical mentors, she said her Grammy (my mom) because Grammy taught her to sing.

When S and K were little, my Mom and Dad used to visit our home everyday. They said they had to "get their S & K fix." The visits were usually short, an hour or so, and always my Mom would teach the girls a song, usually a Sunday school song Mom has learned in her childhood, but also some really sweet "oldies." She even taught them the Paul McCartney song "Ebony and Ivory."

Some legacies live on pleasantly in succeeding generations.