Music as Lifesaver

It’s true that music can be a distraction—playing heavy metal while trying to finish one’s homework….blasting hard rock in the car and barely spotting the ambulance coming up on the left. However, more often, I’ve found music was my salvation.

Growing up in a family with mental illness, we were often isolated. Almost never did we have guests, except for Grandmother’s occasional visits from Illinois. Now and then we played with neighborhood children, but usually we limited our activities to the outdoors (in this pre-video games era). Music provided another and somehow broader world for me.

My father would take me to a pawnshop a few miles up the road, and the kindly owner approved my choices—usually classical music. My prized record was Vaughn Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. I’d originally bought the record because of the lush landscape cover photo. However, the hauntingly beautiful melody brought me to tears many times—and I was a person needed a good cry, whether I always realized it or not.

I also loved top 40 and listed to Casey Kasem’s countdown every week. The first summer we moved to Florida, I remember hearing “The Air that I Breathe,” and “Seasons in the Sun” constantly. My sister and I used to buy records for each other’s birthdays that we really liked and of course, they usually ended up with the buyer, not the recipient. I’d read to all types of music—dance—exercise--day dream—and of course, try to cope with life as well as I could.

I still pull out my LPs, CDs, and tapes (almost ready for the MP3 player one of these days) when I need to relieve myself of stress. Music is the best remedy for life’s aches that I know.