It’s funny how independent events in life seem to intersect. Let me give you an example.

I stopped at one of the local downtown shops early last week when a sign that has been in the window for years suddenly resonated with me. “Let us convert your tapes to CDs” it read. It reminded me of a tape I did want to be converted and, of course, had been procrastinating about for years. But this time, I was impelled to stop {even found a parking space right in front} and get the details.

That’s part one of the story. Part two came Friday when the Five Minute Friday word was CHERISH (see the post, “Five Minute Friday - Cherish”). It reminded me of The Association’s 1966 version of Cherish, which coincidentally was one of the tracks on that tape I wanted to convert. So I pulled out the tape from its rack in the garage, popped in the only tape drive around {in my Subaru} to make sure it was still good {garages in upstate New York tend to get a, well, little drafty} and it’s ready to be converted.

That’s the background … here’s the story about the tape and why it is so special. You see, Karen and I made the remix together about 15 years ago. One of her Christmas presents that year was a new stereo which had the then state of the art capability of duplicating not only other tapes but records (vinyl) as well.

The morning after we placed the stereo in just the right spot {that’s another story … we [I] had to move it about a half dozen times in three rooms} we were sitting having our coffee when we decided to put together a “special” collection of romantic and love songs, both instrumental and sung.

Without reservation, I chose You’re the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me by the Rainy Day Singers {I’ll share the significance of that song and that group in another post} as my No. 1 choice. She chose Rodgers & Hammerstein’s You’ll Never Walk Alone from Carousel. And together we spent the better part of the day going through our LPs and tapes to fill out the 90 minute tape. Just a sampling included Portrait of My Love, Till, I Hear a Symphony, Till the End of Time, Twelfth of Never, The Wedding Song, The Way You Look Tonight, The Hawaiian Wedding Song and Circle of Life.

That tape became an integral part of our lives. Often, we would put the tape in as background music for our romantic Saturday night dinners. It went with us on trips whenever we had a vehicle with a tape deck in it. It was a signal by either of us for the other we needed together time.

Every one of the 27 tracks had a special meaning for either or both of us. They were more than just nostalgic songs. They tell a story of our life, each one a chapter.

Even today, as I hear any of those songs, I flash back to the morning we added it to our playlist. And I smile … sometimes with tears in my eyes.

THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: All people need a boost.