The Soundtrack of My Life

Judges 5:2-3 (New International Version)

2 "When the princes in Israel take the lead,
when the people willingly offer themselves—
praise the LORD!

3 "Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers!
I will sing to ^[a] the LORD, I will sing;
I will make music to ^[b] the LORD, the God of Israel.

I took the boys to see Journey in concert last night at the Superpages.com center in Dallas. We've seen Journey several times, but the youngest two had only seen them once...back in 2005, their daddy took them to see them at the Nokia theatre. I wanted to take them myself this time, to commemorate something that was important to all of us. Journey music has been a huge part of our lives. My life, actually. Even though they've gone through several breakups, reformations, restylings, lead singers, and sounds, they've always been a band whose music I loved. My late husband was probably their number one fan. When the tickets for this show went on sale, I bought them the first day so I could experience this show with the boys. I am so glad I went.

Andre chose not to go at the last minute. I had only bought four tickets, and he wanted to take his girlfriend. Unfortunately, when I bought the tickets, they weren't dating at that time, and afterwards, the show was sold out. So I gave his ticket to one of J.P. and Clay's friends and we all went. I wonder what it says about me, that I couldn't find one adult to go with me to the show. I asked everyone I knew, but nobody took me up on the offer of a free ticket. It's a shame, because the show was awesome.

Cheap Trick opened and did a 40 minute set, sounding good but you can tell that lead singer Robin Zander is feeling his age (aren't we all?). The boys recognized a couple of their songs, likely due to Guitar Hero's inclusion of "Surrender" in the game. Next, Heart rocked the house. Ann and Nancy still sound amazing and belted out some of their biggest hits. They brought the house down with "Magic Man" and "Alone." I just wish they had sung "Dog and Butterfly," which is one of my favorite Heart songs ever.
After about 45 minutes, they left the stage for Journey's crew to set up.

It took almost another 45 minutes for them to get the stage ready, but it was worth the wait. I had not seen Arnel Pineda (the new lead singer) before, so I didn't quite know what to expect. He's a very good singer, and sounds remarkably like Steve Perry. He looks a lot like him as well, other than the fact that he is Filipino. He's high energy, that's for sure...and so was the show. The hits sounded great, and the new songs from "Revelation" are good as well. I was impressed. So was the rest of the audience, which was PACKED. I'm not sure what capacity is at the amphitheater, but there was barely room to breathe.

The songs that I came of age to..."Open Arms," "Don't Stop Believing," "Be Good To Yourself," and all the great hits...it was an emotional experience to hear them all again with my own children at my feet. They were singing right along with me. I finally broke into tears when Jonathan Cain played the first few notes of "Faithfully" on his piano. It was our song. The song Byron sang to me the first night he told me he loved me. The song we played on our wedding night. The song whose name was the closing for every note, every card, every letter I ever wrote to him. I knew it would be emotional for me, but I guess I underestimated the catharsis I experienced. I had to let all the past 16 months of pain and emptiness go in those tears, crying in the midst of 10,000 people cheering and singing. Hearing that song, by the people who wrote it and played it for us, live in person, with my kids there and my husband in Heaven, was almost more than I could bear. But when it was over, my tears stopped as I looked to the darkening twilight sky. I saw the first stars of the evening, and a cloud formation right above my head in the perfect shape of an L. A sign that only God and Byron could send...a fluffy, cirrus-cloud message to me that they were still watching me and with me when things get difficult. I stopped crying and rocked out the rest of the show with the boys. We danced, cheered, and had a great time.

We got home about midnight, and the boys were tired (I of course, was exhausted). I am a little hoarse today, but none the worse for wear. I am so glad I had the opportunity to share that experience with my kids.

Do you have certain music that is important to you? What is the soundtrack of your life?