Well
about 33 years ago I told my beloved parents that I wanted to try
playing the guitar. This was after they had been watching me for
over a year playing air guitar with a modified yard stick made
into the shape of a guitar complete with fret board markers and
all. During that era KISS was a band that many adolescents liked
and admired so after a year of seeing me running around the house
with this “guitar” and playing along and singing along
to “Kiss-Alive” (the first KISS live album) they decided
it was time. Christmas Day of 1977 was a day that changed my life
forever. I, of course, did not sleep well the night before, and
when I awoke that morning and there was a big box under the tree
with my name on it, that wasn’t there the night before! I’ll
never forget opening it and finding my very first guitar inside!
From then on, from adolescence to adulthood I’ve spent many
an evening learning, refining, practicing, rehearsing, researching,
and actually PERFORMING which is where I am at today. Music has
brought so much joy to my life.
Today, I want to say thank you to all of you out there for helping
me realize a dream that I had as a 12 year old kid.
Parents: If you have a child that wants a guitar (or any musical instrument),
buy it for them. It just might change their lives forever. Playing
guitar is something that they will be able to enjoy for the rest of
their lives, long after they aren’t able to physically play sports
like basketball, baseball, softball, etc… Both my sons are in
their teens now and they are avid guitarists and hopefully when I’m
gone they will acknowledge just how much my life meant to them.
I miss my parents dearly. I miss my grandmother for a lot of reasons,
just one of them being that in the summer of 1980 she gave me $350
so that I could go out and buy my brown Gibson Flying V that I still
have to this day and will NEVER part with.
~Rick
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