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For many of us, the cultural references and interests we accrue during the course of our lives is an amalgam of influences and discoveries garnered both on our own and through others.  Often abiding friendships are formed around the core of a love for and an interest in a particular piece of culture - a book, a film, a piece of music, the artists who created the things we treasure.

I was born three generations after my mother and so we didn't share much interests in that regard.  She was never much of a reader while I voraciously devoured anything I could get my hands on.  She was an archetypal feminine presence whereas I was always more immersed in the life of the mind.  But we did share similar interests in music.  Although she had been raised with a backdrop of big band and blues (she grew up in the Chicago area), in her later years she became a fan of rock n'roll...well, at least some of it.  She was a Beatles fan, proudly telling me the first movie I ever experienced (in the womb) was A Hard Day's Night.  She liked a little bit of everything, as the era I grew up in - the 1970s - was a polyglot of genres airing at all times on AM radio.

And I was even able to get her to approve of my favorite musician...but it didn't happen right away.

She never much liked YesWest (except she was a fan of "Holy Lamb," like me she thought it was such a pretty song) but the first of Trevor's songs I remember her saying she enjoyed was "Sorrow (Your Heart)" and she was interested when I told her about Trevor's history and how it led him to write the song.

Then years later, I played her what I feel is one of Trevor's most beautiful melodies (from any era of his career) and was pleased to see the smile on her face when she agreed with me.  For years to come I would play it for her whenever she asked and knowing the name of the composition she said it did remind her of the winter days of her childhood, transforming an ordinary street into an amazing landscape, and - experiencing the pleasure in finding another fan - smiled myself to know she was also moved by the evocative power of Trevor's creativity.

And so I made certain it was played for her one last time, and it makes me so very happy to know that she could take comfort and joy in Trevor's music the same way I do.  This is for my mommy, and although our relationship was sometimes difficult, I love her always and am grateful she is at peace now.