Full Circle

In much the same way that Al Gore is responsible for the invention of the Internet, I should probably go ahead and announce that I am personally responsible for our ability to download music and create custom made CDs. I will not take credit for the iPod or iPhone, but they are obviously byproducts of the former.
I have loved music since WKY radio on the AM dial and Simon and Garfunkel introduced me to "The Sounds of Silence" as a child. I immediately went out and bought the 45 and played it until I wore out the grooves. I still have a pretty substantial album collection (even though they never get played any more I can't seem to part with them) that morphed into a cassette tape collection and now a CD collection.
But even as a kid I used to think there needed to be a way to take all my favorite songs from all my favorite albums and artists and combine them into a single album of random songs. I know they have "The best of the '60s" or "Greatest Love Songs of All Times" and that kind of thing, but I wanted a way to put my favorite songs together, not somebody elses.
And now, as a direct result of magical thinking, it is possible for everyone to do just that! You can thank me later.
A few years ago before Jacob's conscience became tender, and I was clueless, he illegally downloaded some songs and made a few CDs for me. I have played them endlessly and they were showing serious signs of wear and tear. Plus I had been making a list of other songs I wanted burned--to the tune of two note book pages filled front and back with titles and artist.
I had been asking him to put it on his list of "things to do before I leave for Nashville" to--this time legally--make some new CDs for me. Just because I thought there aught to be a way to do it in no way means I actually know how to do it myself.
So today he got out his laptop computer, gathered all my old CDs and my list of songs and is in the process of making me a new collection of all my favorite tunes.
Some of them I haven't heard for years and just a few minutes ago I was listening to the old Rod Stewart song "Leave Virginia Alone" and though it was never much of a hit for some reason, it brought back vivid memories of Jordan and me dancing to it in our kitchen.
He loved music as much as I do and it was one of many things we had in common and it contributed mightily to the tight bond between us.
I stood in my kitchen and cried as I remembered Jordan and all the music we loved and shared. But I was also crying because Jacob was served me so selflessly by doing something that means so much to me when there are a million other things I'm sure he would rather have been doing.
The memories these songs created with Jordan have created new memories with Jacob. It binds my heart to theirs in a way I can't explain, but that moves me to tears.
Either that or I'm getting ready to have one last period.