Where I match a song to a specific memory.
…I was leaving for college early that morning. To be more precise, my entire family was leaving to drive me to college several states away. I had spent the last few days/weeks/an entire year saying goodbye to people, packing, sorting things, planning. I served my last two weeks at Pizza Hut, an ex-boyfriend stopped by to give me a good-luck card, I dreaded leaving my cat. It was incredibly early–possibly even five o’clock in the morning–and I stumbled awake and into the bathroom, flipped on the radio and went about my getting ready duties for the last time as a regular resident of the house. And there, right in the middle of washing my face, I realized the song I was hearing, the song with the simple guitar accompaniment and the quiet lyrics, was Dire Straights “Romeo and Juliet.” Mark Knopfler’s song was a sadder, more accepting version of loss and it fit perfectly with the many goodbyes I had just given. To this day, I love both versions for different reasons.