BY WILLIAM ROWELL
For someone who enjoys music as much as I do, it is a shame that I could not be gifted with a good voice or talented with an instrument. I tried so hard as a teenager to be an idol like Rick Nelson, Paul Anika, etc. The only way I could make music was to put a “45” on the record player or a quarter in the jukebox.
I enjoy all genres from Broadway to Country, but stop short of rap. Country may be my favorite by a slight edge led by Willie Nelson. He has a unique style and some great songs. I re ally love and relate to the lyrics of his work. Rap on the other hand is loud with words that are hard for me to understand, which may not be a bad thing.
If I had to pick a favorite song it would have to be Willie’s “On the Road Again”. Since retirement, I have tried to do a lot of traveling and it has to be played at the start much the same as our national anthem is played at the start of athletic events.
Willie wrote it and it was published late in 1980. I was between marriages at the time and it quickly became my theme song. I had a good friend from work at the time and we were on the road every summer heading to company golf tournaments from Pennsylvania to Georgia. I had Willie on tape and he and his hit song quickly became our music of choice on the road.
That was nearly 50 years ago and a lot has changed. My golfing and traveling companion, Tom, has since passed on. I remarried, only to lose her to cancer five years ago, and now single again, though the years have robbed me of the desire and ability to continue that lifestyle. The only constant is that Willie and my favorite tune is still the same and it brings back wonderful memories.
Just last week. my lady friend and I made a road trip that covered 1,945 miles over eight states in eight days. The furthest point was New Orleans, LA. The occasion was the first birthday and second birthday for my great-granddaughter and great-grandson respectively.
She and I are both in our 80s and retired with time on our hands and physically able to do it. It was a memory that I will cherish for the remainder of my life. I have no regrets and we will do it again, God willing.
Imagine, for the moment, two old-timers on the porch of a retirement community. They are in their individual wheel chairs, sunning with a shawl around their shoulder and drool dripping off their chin. One is thinking, “Boy, I sure am glad that I took those trips while I was still young enough to enjoy it”. The other is thinking, “Boy, I sure wish I had taken those trips while I was younger and able to do it”. Which one are you?
God bless and have a great day. life.
A sage whose words have been published in newspapers near and far, William Rowell is a resident of Perquimans County.