Last Saturday was our wedding anniversary. It meant that I have been married longer than I have not. Unintentionally, it was also the day that we sold some of Dylan’s things at a garage sale. I am pretty certain that his things were all Christmas presents. Nothing wrong with each of them. They just no longer had anybody to belong to.
The Sony stereo almost seems archaic today, but Dylan usually had the CD changer filled with CDs that he burned from music he downloaded or CDs that he bought. The computer speakers with a sub-woofer that he used quite a bit. We used to talk about how good that sounded. I’m not sure which one he would turn to when he wanted to crank up the volume. I suppose both of them had their time and place. The stereo didn’t really bother me when I sold for a few dollars, but when the speakers went, it hit me. As each item left with its new owner, it kind of felt like we were leaving yet another piece of Dylan to memory. I debated about keeping the speakers and using them in garage, but at some point opted to let it go. I just remembered occasionally going to his room when he had some music on, and more than once, talking about how that was a good buy. Sometimes Santa would take the credit. I know he appreciated them.
The last thing of Dylan’s that we sold was his good music stand. As he progressed as a musician, the pieces he would play got longer and longer. He had quickly out grown the cheap little music stand, and needed something bigger and more sturdy. There were a few times when the music would have to be taped to cardboard, so it would stay on the stand. I remember when he played the Yes song “Mood For A Day” at his recital. It was hard to see him, because the music took up so much space in front of him. I have often wondered how he felt about playing guitar after the lessons had run their course. It is a conversation I never got the opportunity to have with him.
On that same day, we had the radio playing in the garage and a song came on by Linkin Park. The same song I had first heard while riding in the back seat with Dylan. I can’t remember the name of the song, I’m horrible at that, but every time I hear it I’m caught up in the conversation I had with Dylan. I mentioned I didn’t think I would like the whole album but some of their stuff is pretty good. Next time I saw him, he got on my computer and downloaded that song and a couple of others for me that he thought I would like.
He was amazing like that, you know, just having idle conversation about something one day and then making an impact on someone without trying on the next day.
I heard that too. It was “One Step Closer.” I could have sworn he played that at a recital, but I guess not. We must have talked about it, because I thought it would be funny to hear this little kid singing “Cause I’m one step closer to the edge. I’m about to break.”
This reminded me of another Linkin Park song: “Bleed It Out.” It must have been when we were looking at colleges, because we played that “Minutes to Midnight” album many, many times in the van. “Bleed It Out” would come on and all of us would start bopping along to it, seven or eight year old Marisa included. Dylan never seemed to too excited about looking at the schools, but all of us, including him, had some good times on that little adventure.