Why Connie?

Why is my life a Connie Francis song? My first memory is that of a record player.....For you youngsters out there, before there were CD players....before there were MP3 players and Ipods, we had record players that played vinyl albums and 45 rpm records. My mother was a product of the 1950s. When she graduated from high school, she worked as a secretary. Using her weekly salary, she had a routine that she repeated week after week.....she went to the record store and bought a 45 rpm record.....a single. Before she married my father, she bought quite a few records. My favorite record was "Who's Sorry Now" by Connie Francis. She used to let me play her records on her record player when I was maybe 4 or 5 years old. She was brave.....but I never broke one of her discs. My first memory is playing records on her record player and you know what record I played---you guessed it...Connie's.

As I grew older, I grew out of Connie....and never really listened to her music for years. When I was in college, I was looking in the discount bin at Tower Records and I came across a Connie Francis Greatest Hits CD. I bought it and rediscovered Connie in all her glory. A few years later, I even bought her 4 CD set. During this time, I noticed that my daily routine could always be described by a Connie Francis song. At first, it was sort of a joke between me and my friends.....but then it really became scary. Literally every day of my life could be described by one of her many songs.

I sometimes wonder if that first memory....the first recollection of my earliest life that I have....is it ironic....is it telling that the first song I remember is "Who's Sorry Now?" What am I sorry for? Do I have something to be sorry for? Am I sorry? Do I have regrets? Connie speaks to me and tells me that "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" and "Don't Break the Heart That Loves you." She tells me that "stupid cupid is a real mean guy" and that "my heart has a mind of its own."

Connie is a gift to the world....and she has been a gift to my life. I wonder what song will describe tomorrow? We shall see.