What an odd week. Odd in many respects. But most relevant are these feelings of nostalgia. I was on my old stomping ground today. And while a lot has changed, some memories are so strong that they resurface as a result of the slightest tug? Let me finish…
In the first half of 1997 I was still an inpatient at a rehab hospital out of town. Where distance and cost, at least initially, dictated I couldn’t go home quite as often as I’d eventually be able to, but once that time came I started going home weekends. I wouldn’t know where to begin to communicate the importance of such a weekly trip to my mental well being.
Most times it’s the little things that make a life worth living. And sometimes it’s all you have to hang on to.
All that said there is one weekend I’ll never forget as long as I live. My little buddy used to come home from university and, like clockwork would drop in and visit me every Friday night. Thank fuck. And this one Friday evening he wandered in carrying the CD I’d never been more anxious to hear. All the way from the Scandinavian Peninsula, The Satanic Surfers, 666 Motor Inn.
Face it, music, especially punk rock has always been a huge part of my life. But never has it been more momentous than this one Friday night. Strangely for the entirety of that album nothing else mattered. My accident? My nightmarish rehab stint? Even my being in bed by 6 on a Friday night? None of it. All that mattered was the music. I remember it so well. Nothing will ever diminish the memory of those 37 minutes in my life. Nothing…
There aren’t many words I could ever hope to type right now that would even begin to convey what I still feel. But out of all the time I’ve killed this was, by far the most valuable I’m ever likely to live. And the fact I’m still here is testament to the significance of those weekends, his visits and this one night, in particular. Trust me.
“Never thought much about it. But now that it is gone. The house that I grew up in. Gave me back my memories. Warm and tender. I remember sweet memories. Long forgotten.”1
You’ll never know what it meant to me, mostly cos I barely understand it myself. But for what it’s worth, thank you so very much Lee…
1 Soothing, 666 Motor Inn, The Satanic Surfers…