Sunshine on my Shoulder

Somehow, my ipod set to shuffle, I ended my workout with "Sunshine on my Shoulder" by John Denver. Stretching out on the gym mats, tears began rolling down my cheeks, finding their way down to meet tight hamstring. Mom loved that song, I could almost hear her singing it in the kitchen back home, then turning it up and starting it over again. John Denver's voice makes you want to cry for something he, himself seems to be mourning for. A deep sadness there that catches in the throat and then I am self-conscious of the other gym-goers--all the young chicks and dudes attending Ohio University--who are asking each other if they are going out tonight and suddenly my thighs feel huge and my pants blaringly different from all the other short shorts in the area. And, then "Here comes the Sun" was the next song and I had to smile as it was another mom favorite. As youngens two of my brothers and I did a lip sync to that Beatle tune in order to impress our parents and give them a show. I think we secretly were trying to give them a date night. We even did special lighting and gave out tickets to the show downstairs in our living room. My older brother played the air guitar well that evening. Our parents were so proud and, thinking back on it, they never mentioned the fact that the Beatles never had a female lead singer.