16 February . . . Day 5

What I Would Say

Last night I opened a package from my family in Kentucky, and inside was this tiny little MP3 player, a Zen.  It's so incredible to be able to think of a song I'd like to hear, and then find it and listen to it seconds later.  I feel so spoiled.

It was near midnight when I started loading some music onto the Zen. I found a file on my computer from my Sophomore year of college, with about eighty songs.  One of them was written and performed by a friend of mine, Paula McGarrell.

In 2005, Paula made a CD for friends and filled it with songs she'd written, prayers, and personalized messages for each of us.  I listened to mine every day.  I remember bouts of insomnia, where I'd lie on the top bunk of my dorm bed, pressing the repeat button on track 14 until finally, after maybe an hour or more, I'd fall asleep.

I haven't seen Paula in years, and it's been six since she first sent me this song.  This evening on my bus ride home I played this song and remembered her.  I took so many pictures of beautiful things today.  This is the one that meant the most.