The Soundtrack of my Life...

Have you ever stopped to consider what music might be used for the soundtrack of your life? Since I’m a lover of both movies and music, I do stop to consider crazy things like this. I wonder sometimes who might ‘play’ me in my movie, and what songs could be used to highlight the various ages and stages of my story. I’m a music lover, so the musical choices loom endless, but I think that the following are high points I’d need to consider – my life’s highlights, if you will.

I’m the youngest of four siblings, and my brother, Dan, is 11 years my senior. As a young teen, he purchased a multitude of 45’s. When he went off to college, he left an old shoebox full of these musical treasures, and I found them. When I was about 7, 8, 9 years old, I’d spend hours stacking these oldies but goodies on my parents’ old phonograph record changer, waiting for each one to drop. Here’s a taste of the delicious oldies I fell privy to:  Peter & Gordon’s I Go to Pieces, Simon & Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water, Herman’s Hermits’ Silhouettes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9VaNoGscYo ,  and the Beatles’ I Wanna Hold Your Hand https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MHkgwA8t-g . I memorized all the lyrics, and performed them in front of our living room mirror – a hairbrush as my microphone.  

I remember when the radio became important to me. Our family only had one – it sat on a shelf in the kitchen, tucked into the corner near the sink. Often while washing the dishes, I bargained with my mom to change the station from her conservative AM talk choice, to the more cutting-edge concept of FM. Don McLean’s American Pie,  Carly Simon’s You’re so Vain, and Roberta Flack’s Killing Me Softly began to affect and really move me. Some of my friends developed huge crushes on pop/rock idols such as young Elton John; but to be honest, I really liked everybody.  “A long long time ago, I can still remember how that music used to make me smile…” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ih7N9_VUU4U

As a kid I joined our church choir and grew to love singing to God in worship, harmonizing in four parts with friends that I still see to this day. * NOTE: Hymns and songs with religious significance grew even more important to me in the early 2000’s when my mom was in a nursing home with Alzheimer’s Disease. She didn’t always remember who people were or the significance they held to her life, but to the day she died she remembered all of the words that praised God. This fact was not lost on me.*  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdOyrpXNGlI A nice arrangement of “Amazing Grace” by Tony Memmel.

During these young years I also began playing the trumpet and French horn, and as I moved into middle school and high school, my appreciation for classical music began to deepen. I played in band (including marching and jazz), orchestra, and smaller ensembles such as brass choirs and quintets. I participated in solo/ensemble competitions, and even took private lessons for a while. Our high school band traveled to competitions in both Virginia Beach and Winnipeg Canada. I grew to love playing band music, especially rousing pieces like Gustav Holst’s Suite in E flat. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLbP6qpI1YI . True story - one of the most memorable ‘dates’ of my life was when my young ‘suitor’ planned dinner in downtown Milwaukee, and an evening at the Symphony. There are many songs I take away from this time of my life, but Gabrieli’s Sonata Piano Forte always spoke to me.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQeikHMQGOM

High School – this paragraph could no doubt morph into a book of its own; but for me, musically it became known for groups such as Boston, Journey, Styx, Kansas, Fleetwood Mac, Bob Seeger, and REO Speedwagon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHu-SqUqoak . However, I’ll never forget my first concert experience. It was 1978. Billy Joel began his three-hour show by whistling The Stranger, to a dark Milwaukee auditorium. Absolutely unforgettable!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdLPI6XhEN8  During this time there was also a popular radio song that really spoke to me. “Sometimes When We Touch” by Dan Hill. It just beautifully captured the turmoil of off-again/on-again relationships so common in teen romance; and to this day, when I hear it, I weep. ;)  (Just kidding, but seriously – I weep)  “…at times I think we’re drifters, just searchin’ for a friend, a brother or a sister, but then the passion flares again…” (sigh) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IATz8ZVTALo

Disco – What can I say? It was a big part of my era! Many bowling alleys used to have a bar/disco hidden inside. I actually met Todd in a club when he came up and asked me to dance (one of the first chapters of my book, if you recall). Songs such as “Funkytown” and “I Will Survive” can still slap me back to the late 70’s/early 80’s. But after I met Todd and as we got to really know each other, our song became Jim Croce’s Time in a Bottle. “… I’ve looked around enough to know that you’re the one I wanna go through time with…” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO1rMeYnOmM . Along with this timeframe also comes the Eagles, Neal Diamond (circa The Jazz Singer) and some Dan Fogelberg. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhjYbfK9vrk

Men at Work, Phil Collins, Wham, Alabama, John Mellencamp, Steve Miller Band – these are some of the popular groups we enjoyed early in our marriage. But during the week that Tony was born, in December of 1985, a song called “Broken Wings” (Mr. Mister) went to number one. “Take these broken wings, and learn to fly again, learn to live so free…”  I know it’s a love song, but given that he was missing his left forearm, that song just stuck with me. I cannot hear it without thinking about baby Tony, and those first weeks of his life.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKhN1t_7PEY

Rod Stewart’s “Forever Young” came out in the fall of 1988. After I gave birth to Megan, Todd’s sister, Jodi, said that she dubbed the song as Megan’s. “…Be courageous and be brave, and in my heart you’ll always stay forever young…” To this day, this is Megan’s song. :-/  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1T9apksOv6k

As my kids grew, I taught them all my old musical favorites, but as time went on, and they became radio listeners of their own music, they began to teach me some new selections. * Note: Todd never did swing into the kids’ new music. He still listens to classic rock and country to this day. * The mid to late 90’s brought us (via the children) Dave Mathews, the Backstreet Boys, N Sync, Green Day, and the Goo Goo Dolls. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73cWfFEKAfE  Life was changing…

In 2001, Tony and his friends started a garage band. Not only did they imitate the ska style that was so popular in the early 2000’s, (Reel Big Fish, Less than Jake, Goldfinger) but he also began writing his own music. This was a significant portion of my book, and would definitely need to be added to the soundtrack of my life. Tony’s albums: Tale of an Underdog, Potter Road, Here We Go, Yours and Mine, and Clenched Hands/Brave Demands… and the Lucky Fin Song J https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3Q8pRO_4MI

As the kids grew up, went to college and got married, I was back on my own musically. Yes, they still continue to influence me and encourage me to check out new things, but I’ve also found some encouraging music for my own life. One song that particularly speaks to me is “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield. The lyrics say, “…feel the rain on your skin, no one else can feel it for you, only you can let it in, no one else can speak the words on your lips, paint yourself in words unspoken, live your life with arms wide open, today is where your book begins, the rest is still unwritten…” Oh, and don’t forget “Landslide” – may I just say WOW, You know?  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sQ7cuYgjzw  “…well I’ve been afraid of changin’ cuz I built my life around you. But time makes you bolder, children get older, I’m getting older too…” (This song brings out the tears – absolutely!)

As of this date, September 28, 2014, these are some of the songs that could appear in the soundtrack of my life. I hoped you enjoyed this little trip through my Memory Lane. This was fun for me to think about and to consider. It’s so encouraging for a 50-something gal like me, after all I’ve endured and lived through, to think of my life as ‘still unwritten…’ to not have every answer… After all, none of us knows what lies ahead – Life is a blank page. It’s up to us (with God’s help) what we choose to make it…

Katie Kolberg Memmel is the author of “Five Fingers, Ten Toes – A Mother’s Story of Raising a Child Born with a Limb Difference.” It is available through Amazon as a Kindle download and as a paperback. http://www.amazon.com/Five-Fingers-Ten-Toes-Difference/dp/1478368055/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1411511026&sr=1-1&keywords=katie+kolberg+memmel