Category: Tunes

This morning, on GMFB they talked about the 2019 combine. They showed old footage of football players running the 40 at their respective combines. It really bummed me out! Two years before I injured my knee which has been another two years, I used to train at Barwis to walk the 40. I knew that when I did it, I will put it on Twitter with the hashtags, #RunRichRun and #StJude. That was my goal!

I was going to walk 40 yards with my crutches. That’s what I trained for at Barwis! My trainers, Adam, Nick, and Michael, knew I was going to do that. But today, I was bummed out because I was watching all these 40s and seeing commercials for Rich Eisen and I knew I wasn’t going to do that anytime soon. My knee STILL hurts!

I was too tired this morning to tweet at anyone on the show but I still checked Twitter on my phone. A woman who has been in my MS chats with me posted an abridged version of this video.

Talk about being bummed out! Sean says that I do not sound that bad at my worst but there are times where I can’t speak very well, just like her. When my Mom got here, I played her the video and cried! At this point, only Sean, my Mom, and my friend, Renee have heard me speak like that. I called in Sean late to school because of an orthodontist appointment one day and I spoke like that in the message I left for the attendance office.

That kind of embarrassed me! As we were beginning to complete our routine, My Mom could see that I was really bummed out and told me that I could choose the music we listened to today. I chose this song, my walking song!:

I chose this song as my walking song back in 2013 when my cousinT, Shannon, accompanied me to Barwis, back when I thought I would be walking soon! I didn’t know then how things would play out years later and I am not walking! BUMMER! I haven’t even done the #RunRichRun 40 yard dash! This song reminds me of Barwis and my hope of walking! As we were getting me ready for the day, my knee popped out! BUMMER!!!

My Mom has been changing up the music we listen to during our morning routine. She doesn’t like my music so I let her decide what will listen to She decided on Justin Bieber‘s, “Sorry” today. When I search it in Apple Music, we can hear this song over and over again which doesn’t bother either one of us.

That is a random song for her to choose, I know, but it is a Barwis song.! In 2015, I was going to Barwis strong thinking that walking was on the horizon, not too far away. She actually had to remind me that it was a Barwis song years ago. Even though I LOVED seeing her sway her hips and move her arms to the music and mouth the words but that is NOT what this blog post is about.

Just before my Mom attached the pads to my knee for my tens unit, she talked to me about living in Oklahoma with my Dad. I’ve known my whole life that they used to live in Oklahoma at Fort Sill when they were first married (where I just read that RBG and her husband lived also). I’m surprised that I do not know all of the details because I never have asked my Mom before.

She told me that my Dad did not want to live in military housing so he got an apartment for them. My Mom talked about how forlorn my Dad saw her look when they entered the apartment. The previous tenants we’re guys so my Mom told me that it was really dirty! She has told me before that the kitchen was the brightest room in the apartment.

It was yellow. She told me that after she cleaned it up by scrubbing it down that she cut out a design on contact paper and put them on the cabinets. They were vines and flowers. I like to hear her tell the story and I ask her if she has any pictures and she does not. BUMMER! I like hearing stories about this part of her and by Dad’s life that I know nothing about!

As she described cleaning the kitchen and making it bright. she raised her hands on either side of her face with her fingers spread apart and said in a singsong voice, “Sunshine!” I immediately thought of this song:

It’s funny how all things always point back to U2 for me but I really like hearing about their time in Fort Sill.

I saw the movie, Garden State for the first time a while ago and last night, I thought of the scene because that was when I got,” In it.”

Last night, as I was falling asleep, I thought of my first day at WMU and how I was so afraid. I was remembering being curled up on my bed that first night and listening to Third Eye Blind in my room very quietly because I didn’t want to disturb anyone else. I thought about that song before I fell asleep and this morning, I had to look it up and play it on Apple Music.

I was still laying in my bed as Sean got ready for school and I was, “In it.” I played this song a few times before my Mom came over and helped me out of bed.

After I was seated in my wheelchair, my Mom left to take my nephew to work. I switched the TV on to find out that GMFB was a compilation of previously viewed clips so I turned the TV off. I turned Third Eye Blind back on and continued to be, “In it.”

After we completed it our morning routine, my Mom left and I picked up the book I’m reading. I guess I was, “In it” there too because now I am just about 2/3 of the way finished with the book i’ve been reading for only three days.. I only stopped reading to eat dinner. (It’s Taco Tuesday today so we ordered tacos from a local restaurant. They are only a dollar today).

It reminded me of probably my second no third year teaching. For Christmas, the English department got a bunch of student books. We came back to school from Christmas break to find stacks of books on all of our desks. Before putting them on the bookshelf, I had to mark them according to their reading level. We all received two or three copies of all four of the Twilight books.

As the students were reading by themselves, I made the mistake of opening up one of the books and began reading. I got into the car after work (my brother, Jimmy, and I worked together at the time) and I told him that I was frustrated because NOE I HAVE to read the series! I didn’t want people knowing how much of a Reading nerd I was! I finished all four books in five days.

I was just so wrapped up in the story likr I am today. I finally watched a little bit of TV as I ate my tacos but once I was finished, and turned the TVoff and continued reading. I guess that I’m, “In it!”

This morning, (well, really it was the afternoon because I spent the morning watching John Dingell’s funeral mass on TV. It was at The Church of the Divine Child, MY church! Sean and my Mom shoveled my front sidewalk. Sean did not have school today because of the funeral. I not only wanted to see my church on TV because I haven’t been there in way too long but I also wanted to hear Joe Biden‘s eulogy!) my Mom helped me get ready for the day like she does every day.

Sean and my Mom came into the house just as the funeral finished. As my Mom and I got ready to get me ready for the day, my Mom asked me to put some music on. I asked her what kind of music she wanted to listen to. I have tons of playlists in my Apple Music account that Sean and I share.

My Mom told me, “I want to hear that one song where they sing on top of a record store and it’s a surprise and there are tons of people in the street.“. My Mom was talking about U2, “Where the Streets have No Name.” I quickly grabbed my phone and told her that she did not have to tell me that twice! My Mom does NOT like my music so to hear her wanting to hear a song that I really liked was really cool!

As we worked, we listeed to this song on loop. OF COURSE I had to sing along with it! My Mom didn’t mind that I was belting out the lyrics that I have completely memorized. The song played many times before we were finished getting me ready for the day.

So, my Mom did not mind listening to, “that one song,” and I didn’t mind listening to it either! I let her know that as we listened to that song over and over, I am in her living room with the green carpet that used to be there. I told her that it pwas crazy that I feel like a child, probably seven or eight years old. Maybe my Mom will choose that song to listen to again some day! That will be exciting!

My Mom and I used to listen to Christmas music as I got ready for the day with her help. The day after Christmas, I shared her playlist with her. I had made a playlist on Apple Music titled, “Mom/Abuela” and since it’s not Christmas anymore, we listen to that. I made that playlist a couple ofyears ago because I wanted to have a 65th birthday party for her. I made this playlist for her of all the songs that she likes and my brother, Ray, helped me with songs that she liked that were recorded before I was born. I added a few more contemporary songs as well.

My Mom ended up putting the kabaush on my plans for that party because she didn’t want to be the center of attention. In retrospect, that was good anyway because that was the year that I was fired. Anyway, I still have the playlist in my phone and so we listen to it as she helps me get ready for the day. She doesn’t like my music and sometimes we listen to my Dad’s playlist.

Today, she wanted to listen to her playlist. It’s comprised of songs I remember her singing with while she cleaned the house or hearing it when we drove in the green station wagon. She will constantly ask me if I know the song playing which I never do If it was a song suggested by my brother, Ray. She is astonished that I don’t know the artist and she will look it up. How can I know the artist’s name of a song that was released eight years before I was born?!

Today, my Mom told me about when I was born. She’s told me stories about this day many times and what I will always take away from it is the fact that she had me, “naturally.“.She has told me that if she had my oldest brother, “naturally”, he would be an ONLY child. She also would re-count how it was the first birth where my Dad would cut the cord and give the baby their first bath.

Today, she told me what my Dad said when I was born. My Mom has always told me that she pushed incorrectly when she gave birth to me and ended up popping all of the blood vessels in her face. She told me that my Dad was supposed to be her coach but he didn’t do ANY coaching!

One regret I have is never having had asked my Dad about what it was like. I never heard it from him, in his own words. My Mom told me today that once I came out, he sighed and said, “My family is complete.“ My Mom had her heart set on having a girl and kept trying to have one until her fifth pregnancy. She had resigned herself to having five boys and my Dad had already closed up shop. Because my Mom had pushed incorrectly, she said that she was so tired she couldn’t even lift up her arms. She always tells me that my Dad held me because she couldn’t.

For some reason, today, as she told me that my Dad replied to her inability to hold me by looking at me and telling me something along the lines of, “ it’s okay, honey, I got you.‘. I’ve heard that story so many times but today, as she spoke I could feel tears sting my eyes.

The playlist is about four hours long so I just put it on shuffle as we complete our morning routine. After a couple of weeks of listening to it, she noticed that I did not have any Stevie Wonder on the playlist. I told her that I could add some of his songs onto it. A few weeks ago, I put the “Stevie Wonder Essentials” playlist on my phone so she could choose the songs she wanted to have on her playlist. She wanted to add this song.

She has told me so many times at how excited she was to finally have a girl and the fact that she would change my outfit all of the time when I was a baby. She has told me that she smiled for three months after I was born. When she chose this song, I recognized it but the words she said next completely left me speechless! I said something about who he is singing about being lovely and then I kind of like this song and my Mom told me, “It’s you!”

Hearing those words really SHOCKED me! We didn’t hear that song today as she helped me get ready for the day but talking about my Dad and my birth made me thank of this song and miss him so much more!

Sean had a doctor’s appointment this past Monday; so as his sole, legal guardian, I needed to accompany him because he is still a minor. I was not prepared for the cold! That’s for sure! Sean and my Mom ran into her house after the appointment to get some stuff. I was left alone in the car listening to the radio.

As I have stated before, I am OLD! Nowadays, because I no longer am a morning commuter, I don’t listen to my morning talk shows on the radio that I have in my car on my way to work. I no longer go to work. So, when I was left alone in the car, I listened to the 90s on nine. I heard this song. I inmediately thought of Dawson’s Creek even though I was NOT a huge watcher of the show.

As the song continued to play, I was reminded of an assignment I was given when I was an undergrad in college. It had something to do with artistic freedom and the fact that the rules of grammar are not always followed closely by artists. A girl in my class who I often talked with cited this song. I can still see her standing in front of the classroom presenting her paper but I can’t remember which professor or even which class it was.

I don’t even remember what example that I used! She cited the first lines of the song and the fact that they are NOT grammatically correct but no one really pays attention to that.

I have NOT stopped thinking about this song and that girl presenting that paper in my English class. I can’t even remember that girls name but we had a lot of English classes together in the CASL building at U of M Deerborn.