Songs that Remind Me of My Beautiful Wife

You know when you're just standing there, minding your own business, and then some song comes on from hell-know's-where, and it just reminds you of your awesome wife (or husband, if you're that way inclined). Well, here's a list of songs that remind me of my beautiful wife Luchrisa, and some details of how, when and why they hit me so hard: Even now, I can't even think about these songs without gettin' all tore up (sometimes even at work, which can be quite embarrassing!).

How Do I Live Without You? - LeeAnn Rimes. For the first years of our relationship, this was our song (her choice, not mine: I wanted "Subway to Venus" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, which only proves that it's smarter to let the WOMAN pick "our song"!) I remember how moved I would be whenever I'd hear her singing along to it whenever she'd play it back in the Nineties. She sang it with such feeling and passion, I knew she believed every word she sang (but for ME???? Wow! Go Figger!).

Angel of the Morning - Juice Newton. Back in 1998, when my wife was battling cancer, I remember filling her car with gas at the Conoco that summer. This song was being piped into the forelawn of the station, and for some reason, it just hit me like a ton of lead. It really drove home the reality that I might lose her. Since I was not done gassin' up her Plymouth, I had to stay there and just take it. My heart was tearing in half, and I could not escape. To this day, I still cannot listen to this song all the way through (or even think about it, for that matter!)

Heaven is a Place on Earth - Belinda Carlisle and Never Had a Dream Come True - S Club 7. The wonderful thing about working in a furniture store is that you get to listen to adult contemporary ALL DAY LONG (Ughhhh!). It was about 2003, right around Valentine's Day, and I just got the news that they excised another lump from her clavicle (cancer scare number 2!). Being a warehouse ape, I had the luxury of hiding in the aisles if I had to cry or pray. Once it was out of my system, I could keep my shit together enough to go into the showroom and move something around or set up a display if I had to.

Well, bust my britches if I don't walk into the showroom after I manage to dry it up, and these two songs play back to back! Talk about nowhere to run or hide; the crap was playing all over the store! You know, there's only so long I could pretend to be fixing a mattress set or inspecting an armoire or recliner. The words reminded me of her innocence and her child-like heart, and once again drove home the fact that I might not get another Valentine's Day with her. These two songs will go down in infamy as constant reminders of how shitty my life really was before we met, because I cannot take the thought of going back to that place again!

I Won't Last a Day Without You - The Carpenters. The hook says it all for me: When there's no getting over that rainbow. When the smallest of dreams won't come true. I can take all the madness the world has to give, but I won't last a day without you!" Just her being here helped me through some of the lowest points in my life; some points where I was so unbearable to be around, I almost drove her from my life completely. She was my strength through some of the toughest times. This song used to hit me even when I was in kindergarten, and when I heard it in a doctor's office one time while fighting the flu, there it is again; having to not look like my puppy just got run over in front of a waiting room full of strangers (CURSE YOU, ADULT CONTEMPORARY!!!!)

Something About You - Boston. This is one of the greatest songs from one of the greatest albums by one of the greatest bands that ever played. The words to this song says everything about the changes Luchrisa brought within me. Along with the few happy childhood memories this tune brings me, it has a whole different signifigance since I met my baby!

Unanswered Prayers - Garth Brooks. The story behind this one is a little long, so bear with me. While stationed in San Diego, I got involved sexually with a higher-ranking female petty officer. Sure, I had a girlfriend back home, but what difference did that make, because as they say in the Navy, "If you can't be with the one you love, then love the one you're with"!

To make a long story short, that bitch played me like a fiddle, and I got everything I deserved, and then some. I remember the day her boyfriend got transfered from Corpus Christi just to be next to her, because that was the day she dropped me like a bad habit. So there I am with my good friend Lisa (another redhead), crying in my whiskey about how unfair it all was, and she patiently listened to me whine. The big song on base that year was "Unanswered Prayers", and I had heard it to death whenever "Enter Sandman" and "Summertime" wasn't being played incessantly.

So she told me to suck it up and quit feeling sorry for myself. "Just think of the somg Unanswered Prayers", she said. "someday, you'll figure out why you weren't supposed to be with her." She would soon prove to me that redheads really ARE special, because when I got out and came back to Knoxville, out of love and out of luck, that's when I met Luchrisa, hanging out with her friends in the apartment next door to my little sister's place.

We started out as friends (by this time, I was through with trying to get a girlfriend; besides, I thought I was ruined anyway, since I decided to become a man-whore and all!). But as the months went by, something told me she was different, and worth keeping. I used to say I would never get married, and at the time, I was still holding fast to that philosophy. Then, while at my sister's apartment one day, I went to the store for some smokes, and my sister told Luchrisa "My brother's gonna marry you." That kind of shocked her, especially since we weren't even officially dating yet. But li'l sis reiterated: "He's gonna marry you. I've never seen him like this over any girl he's ever been with. Trust me"

You see, most of my family had little to do with me. My only true friends were Richard and Eric (Partyin' buddies really don't count!). Most of my post-service days were spent with a noose around my neck, wondering if I had the guts to kick the chair out from under me. But for some crazy reason, this beautiful redhead saw something in me worth having (and God only knows what that could've been!) She stayed with me when nobody even called to see if I was still alive. She showed me hope I never knew before.

Then, one day, it hit me. Lisa was right (again, God bless the redheads!). When I explained the signifigance of "Unanswered Prayers" and my conversation with Lisa to Luchrisa, I then asked her to marry me, that December midnight of 1992.

She has made me the luckiest man alive. Every day, I make sure I stay worthy of this great woman, and these songs help remind me of what we have, and what I would return to if I ever lost her. So that's why I finished with "Unanswered Prayers" for this story. Like the song says; "Just because He doesn't answer doesn't mean He don't care." Pity Garth blew it, and broke up his own marriage. I hope that song haunts him every time he plays it!