Carol's Playlist: Music that Endured

Carol's Playlist, a tribute to my mother, is now published, featuring the theme of the music that anchored our lives. It is my first book in the Echoes and Journeys series.

During the same week, my old turntable once again took a prominent position in my living room. My son's office had housed it for over a decade. Previously, I stored it in my basement.

I welcome a few of my old albums back, as cassettes, CDs, and Spotify playlists have long replaced them. My fingers touched the worn edges of the album covers. Musty smells filled the room. Just as in the old days, I dusted off the two albums I listened to, which celebrated Carol. I interrupt the ritual to wipe the dust from my eyes.

I listened to two records mentioned in Carol's Playlist: "Peter and the Wolf" by Prokofiev and "Tommy Makem and the Clancy Brothers."

The first album my mother played when I was ill was a way of comforting me. The room filled with the beauty of music and the magic of storytelling. Each time I listened to it, I anticipated Peter's plight with the strings and the wolf's menacing behavior when I heard the French horns. Carol's often repeated gesture fed my love of music and narrative in equal measure.

The second album brought a different kind of memory. Irish ballads spilled joyfully through open doors on hot summer days. That music, lively and spirited, was a reflection of my mother's joy, exuberance, and wistfulness. Just hearing it again brought her image and journey back to me, in warmth and contemplation.

Books and records have that in common. They are physical anchors of memory. You touch them, open them, listen to them, or read them, and you're transported. That's what I hope Carol's Playlist becomes. A small book with a big heart. A way to preserve a story that will outlast me, and resonate with someone who also grew up with music as a language of love.

I hope it inspires you to revisit the songs that shaped your story. And maybe even to write your legacy, one chapter at a time, whether inspired by music or something else of meaning to you.  

Art, music, and stories embody our legacies, hopes, dreams, and actions in our lives. Capturing those memories and moments is a crucial step in solidifying our legacies and those of people we love.