I remember vividly those nights Sarah and I would sit on the fuzzy green rug
beside the fireplace and look up at Dad as he sat on the old timber rocking chair and played Thunder. Thunder had been his close companion right since the beginning of middle school when Grandpa got her for him as a birthday gift. I can only imagine how excited he was that time. He'd always dreamed of having an acoustic guitar ever since he fell in love with his favorite country band, Blackberry Doo.
Dad had always loved music even before he had Thunder, but loved it even more when he got transferred to another school in the 8th grade. It was there he met Mom. Then, he was very much like me now: skinny and tall. Just those two qualities, added to the braces that were fixed to his teeth were enough reasons for the bigger guys–and girls– to pick on him. Mom however was different. A lot of her friends made fun of her for walking around with the new weirdo in town, but she didn't mind.
Mom was so pretty and had an amazing voice. I guess that was one of the things that made her inseparable from Dad: their undying love for music. There was this one time that the both of them performed open-air on school ground in high school and boy, Dad sure loves telling me about that day. Everyone came outside to watch these two black freshmen perform. I even have the video on tape and it was awesome.
Mom's voice was golden and Dad's playing was too good for someone who had just started playing about three years prior. Even though that one performance sent them to the principal's office later on, it also made them really popular. At that time, Dad took off his braces and looked much better, coupled with his nice short haircut.
Mom and Dad would always tell Sarah and I about their crazy adventures in high school and college which altogether led them to get married. They were even once in a band with some other dudes. How cool is that?! They would also sing their songs to us and we would join them and sing along. I think my favorite was Doin' Right which was a song Mom wrote when she was pregnant for me.
Dad used to be so happy back then, but it's all cold now. It's been a year since Mom passed away from a heart disease. Even though he's been trying his best to stay smiling and keep us happy, we can tell that it's not the same Dad as before. Some nights, we would hear Dad sobbing from his room. Mom was his rock, his best friend, but now she's more like a spirit that haunts him. And as for Thunder, she hasn't been this dusty since ever.
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