Forever moonwalking

the original record my brother and I used to listen to

(and still do thanks to my new record player)

Growing up, there weren't too many kids to play with on our street. Ok, there was like one family with three kids that I can remember. The boy was the same age as my brother and the two girls were years younger than me. So, my brother and I ended up playing a lot together -- school, house, vet, lego, making forts, playing in the field behind our house, riding our bikes -- thankfully, we got along for the most part and still do.

One of our favourite past times when we were little was listening to records. The record player was in the family room on a bookshelf, right beside the TV and below the fish tank.

We had quite a few records but one of the very first records I remember getting was Michael Jackson's Thriller. I think I was about 7 years old, my brother was 5. I would ever so carefully pull the record out of the sleeve, put the record on the player, bring the arm of the record player over slowly so not to scratch the record, finding the exact groove that matched the beginning of Beat It.

The fireplace had a surround that was elevated a few inches from the carpet and was the perfect size for a stage. Beside the fireplace there was a bucket that would sometimes hold wood. It was also the holding spot for a wooden dowel my brother and I had found, the ideal size for a microphone. We would entertain ourselves for quite a while putting on concerts, pretending we actually knew how to do the moon walk. Ahhh, the memories.

RIP
Michael Jackson
1958 ~ 2009