Love Your Baby Girl

I still love you more than anything in the world. Love your baby girl.

I was going to be a country singer from the time I was like 5 years old.

Some people can’t understand what I’m about to tell you, but this was real life.

There is a town even smaller than the one where I grew up (and now live). It’s a town my high school marketing teacher used to say, “don’t blink or you’ll definitely miss it.” The town has less than 1,000 people in it and goes by the name Meriden, Minnesota. 

Back in the day (it no longer exists), there was a tiny bar in that little town. I have no clue what the official bar name was because we knew it as, “Marie’s Bar.” Very early on (not as young as 5, but definitely before Junior High) I frequented that bar. Most of the time, it was my mom and dad and aunt and uncle, Diane and Jim. They took my brother and I and our two cousins. 

The bar had a jukebox. Diane loved playing that song, “There’s a Tear in My Beer,” and on repeat, country music played. 

As time went on, I kept on singing. 

My mom would buy country sheet music. She would play, and I would sing. Don’t tell my dad, but I know he loved listening to us from the other room.

I never was any good at the organized school choir unless the music had a country twang to it or was a straight-up country song. I could get solos if it was a country song, but otherwise failed miserably.

And even though I’ve never made anything of myself with country music (I don’t have a fraction of the talent needed), you will find me singing country music every single day, all the time. 

Whenever change happens in my life, I always turn to music as one of my most coveted outlets. During both happy and sad changes, I always have a song that screams to me. 

I have written several down during these past several months.

And I’m going to share them all with you during this series.

Starting with Baby Girl today.

Love Your Baby Girl

For the past 11 years, every single d#@% time this song came on the radio, my eyes swelled with tears.

To know me – to actually know me is to know that I can be strong and determined and maybe even off-putting and rude at times, but if you know all that about me, then you also know I cry easily. Like really easy.

While gone from my mom and dad these past 11 years, this song made me cry in the strangest of ways.

When I’d hear, “it’s a long way from here to the place where the home fires burn” from the very beginning, it would all start.

And then, “two thousand miles and one left turn” because that’s about the distance it was from California to Minnesota.

The chorus played over-and-over, “Well I love you more than anything in the world. Love, Your baby girl.”

And by the time the song ends, I missed home and them more than anything,

What ta ya know we made our dreams come true!
And there are fancy cars and diamond rings
But you know that they don’t mean a thing
They all add up to nothing compared to you
Well, remember me in ribbons and curls
I still love you more than anything in the world.
Love,
Your baby girl

The song’s ending always brought me back to my dreams of moving out West, how I begged them to let me go to college in LA. And when they didn’t let me, I made it my goal to find a company who would move me there upon college graduation. And I did, too.

I left and headed out West. And then eleven years ago, I left again for the second time. But somewhere along the line, I realized that none of it meant much of anything – none of it added up to the things that were back home all along.

When I talked about this change – being back with family – as, by far, the most welcomed change, I was not kidding. 

For the past several months I’ve been singing this song and mostly the sad tears have been replaced with happy tears.

p.s. This picture of my parents was when they visited me in California for my 30th birthday. That was almost 4 years ago. And yes, mom and dad, I do love you more than anything in the world.

Sugarland

They say this town
The stars stay up all night
Don’t know, can’t see ’em
For the glow of the neon lights
And it’s a long way from here
To the place where the home fires burn
Well, it’s two thousand miles and one left turn
Dear Mom and Dad,
Please send money, I’m so broke that it ain’t funny.
I don’t need much just enough to get me through.
Please don’t worry cause I’m alright
I’m playing here at the bar tonight.
This time I’m gonna make our dreams come true
Well I love you more than anything in the world.
Love,
Your baby girl
Black top, blue sky
Big town full of little white lies
Everybody’s your friend, you can never be sure
They promise fancy cars and diamond rings
All sorts of shiny things
Girl, you’ll remember what your knees are for
Dear Mom and Dad,
Please send money, I’m so broke that it ain’t funny.
I don’t need much just enough to get me through.
Please don’t worry cause I’m alright
I’m playing here at the bar tonight.
This time I’m gonna make our dreams come true
Well I love you more than anything in the world.
Love,
Your baby girl
I know that I’m on my way
I can tell every time I play
And I know it’s worth all the dues I pay
When I can write to you and say
Dear Mom and Dad,
I’ll send money, I’m so rich that it ain’t funny
It ought ta be more than enough to get you through
Please don’t worry cause I’m alright
I’m staying here at the Ritz tonight
What ta ya know we made our dreams come true!
And there are fancy cars and diamond rings
But you know that they don’t mean a thing
They all add up to nothing compared to you
Well, remember me in ribbons and curls
I still love you more than anything in the world.
Love,
Your baby girl
Baby girl
Baby girl

Xox,
SKH

If you don’t have time to read these posts daily, but don’t want to miss them, be sure to follow via Bloglovin’ and/or join my personal e-newsletter HERE. I am doing my best to send a once per week email recap of prior week’s posts.

These posts will all live under “Wellness+Lifestyle” and also tagged with “101 Days of Blogging.” The 101-day series runs from Monday, January 8, 2018, through Wednesday, April 18, 2018.

If there is a topic surrounding change that you would love for me to include in this series, please just CONTACT ME.

Previous 101-Day Change Series Posts

1. Beginnings are Scary
2. Change Pain Point
3. Making Sense of Change
4. Gratitude Journal