Tonight, I went to an incredible concert at Schermerhorn Symphony Center with Richard Marx, thanks to a very generous neighbor. It was great to hear all the old songs, along with a few newer ones, that took me back to my high school days and awakened all sorts of feelings and memories within me.

One song in particular brought back vivid memories of a band trip to Oklahoma and a girl I had a major crush on as a freshman. I remember buying the cassette tape and wearing it out in my Sony Walkman back in 1988. I even persuaded the girl to listen to that song.

I never could bring myself to let the girl know my feelings for her. I’m pretty sure she’s married now with kids and possibly grandkids. But that song still takes me back. I can almost smell the hotel rooms and swimming pool and the diesel exhaust from the band bus.

I love how music over and above any other form of art can act as a kind of time machine to take you to a tangible moment in your life where you go back to the exact feelings and memories you had then. The song becomes a part of the soundtrack to your life and the memory becomes etched in your heart and in your mind forever.