Amazing Mac

My son amazes me at times. Just simply amazes. Oh, he's a pain in the ass like any other teenage boy who is just turned 16, wants a car and is a raging hormone. But sometimes he amazes me.

Last night we took a roadie to Northern Civilization to sell some books and video games for cash. So we had quality time in the car together to chat; he didn't even bring his cell phone or his iPod this time, so we could just talk or listen to the radio.

Mac LOVES music. This is an almost abnormal obsession with music. He reads magazines and books about music genres or his favorite bands. He has over 2000 songs on iTunes. And his collection is diverse: from Cream to Green Day to Sinatra to BB King Sex Pistols to Thin Lizzy or Pink Floyd. I mean, this kid listens to almost ANYTHING.

He had a good ear as well. He knows lyrics. He can pick out instruments. He listens for melodies, harmonies and instrumentals. He listens to the whole package of a song. He'll say things like, "listen to the bridge after the first verse" or "the guitar solo in this song is played on a Fender blah blah blah" except he uses the real words, not blahs. He knows album names, release dates, and track numbers. He collects real records in addition to his iTunes. He quotes music "stats" like most boys can recall information off of baseball cards.

Right now he's reading a biography of Pink Floyd. In the car on the way home he was telling me interesting information about the group, their history, the music, the instruments, the albums. The amount of information he can recall is phenomenal. AND... the passion in which he shares this info is astounding. He gets excited and his eyes light up. He trips over the words and can't talk fast enough to tell everything he wants to say- I can see that his mind is about 7 thoughts ahead of the words coming out his mouth. And he doesn't say "Dark Side of the Moon is cool"- oh no, he wouldn't ever say anything so trite. He talks about the "piece of work as a whole" and the work that went into each song. Things like that...

I admire my son. The passion he has for music, all kinds of music, is overwhelming. He knows so much, more than I could ever know about music. As a mom it was a powerful feeling to listen to him, to hear him, to see him be excited over a part of his life, to share a grown up perspective and outlook on his passion. I was proud that he wanted to share it with me.

Times like these make me proud to be a mom,
Maggie