Childhood Recollections

1972 in Hawaii. My mother was cool with that fluffy thing on her head!

Driving my husband’s car to the Jeep dealership for an oil change while listening to the radio, I am taken away to oblivion ( my childhood) with the sounds of The Doobie Brothers’ 1972 smash hit, “Listen To The Music”. I feel a smile coming on my face naturally.
My girlfriend and I are sitting on the curb waiting for her brother to come pick us up after school. We are in the 4th grade. He arrives in a topless mustang. Her brother can not be much over 16 and he was cool. He knew it and I did too. We hop in and he turns on the radio while we drive off. I am 10 years old and my long hair is blowing in the wind to The Doobie Brothers’ 1972 smash hit, “Listen To The Music.” We live on Schofield Army Base in Hawaii with palm trees all around us. My friend’s brother is definitely trying to show off. He says, “I bet you never heard anything like that before. Have you?” The truth is I had not. My LP collection did not include The Doobie Brothers at the age of 10. I was loving the beat.
As I dropped the car off and headed into the Jeep dealership’s lounge to sit down, the radio in the building started playing you guessed it “Listen To The Music.” The band sings, “….What the people need is to listen to the music….it is a way to make them smile…” I feel a smile coming on my face naturally.
As the mustang eases up to the curb of my military housing where I lived, my girlfriend’s brother says, “See ya later and let me know if you need a ride again.” I stared at him and then said bye. I ran into the house and went upstairs and looked at my record collection and immediately came downstairs to my mom and declared, “Can I get a new record next time we go to the store?” I do not remember what she said, but I do remember my LP collection started having some diversity after that car ride and I was loving the beat.