Granted, this blog won't mean anything to anyone, not even to the diehard Billy Joel fan.

But it means something to me.

I heard this song tonight and I was instantly transported to Bonny Bill Drive and that den with the ugly shag carpet.

This song has a huge history and was the turning point of my life. I remember the day like it was yesterday. It's so vivid, it bring me to tears to just even picture it.

I most likely will not be able to describe it as it was, because it was something to see to believe. But I'm going to try my best.

Let's backtrack a little bit...

My father, the wonderful man that he was, change his career in his mid life when he found out he had a deaf daughter. Went back to Hofstra University and eventually got his degree in Special Education, although he already had a degree in Psychology. He made a living as a Special Ed teacher for a high school in Brooklyn, NY. As a teacher, you had to be flexible back in those days, and he taught science, woodshop and music in addition. Woodshop turned out to be the worst thing he could ever do when he nearly sawed his thumb off. Let's stick with the music Dad.

He made his entire year worth of music lessons that surrounded the likes of Ricky Nelson, Frank Sinatra, the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Elvis Presley, and believe it or not, Billy Joel. He was a pretty cool cat for a Brooklyn high school teacher in those days. 

It killed the man, in all honestly, to go to work every day and teach these New York City kids the music of yesterdays, but he couldn't teach his own daughter. That fact alone drove him absolutely bananas. But he came up with a way. Right there at Bonny Bill Drive, with all the shag carpet that was left over from the 70's; with his huge stereo setup he had… he found a way to introduce me to music.

He had this lazy boy faux chair that was dead center to his massive entertainment center that you would be punished for life if you ever dare touched it. His speakers were 3 foot tall and had the finest of needles to play on all his albums. The man was truly obsessed with his stereo system.

Then it happened one day.

It was 1984.

I was 9 years old at the time.

It was summer.

He sat me in his prized chair. He put these headphones on me that were way too big for a 9 year old. My dear loving mother sat beside me on the steps that lead from the living room to the den. And she placed her hand on my arm. My father did all the switches on his precious stereo system so most of music would come thru the headphones I was wearing.

I remember….

He turned his back to me….

He placed the needle ever so carefully onto the vinyl record….

And the music blared thru the headphones…

He stood in front of me and did a song and dance.He did it over and over again for a good hour, while my mother who sat beside me tapped the beat onto my arm.

I sat there, watching my father…

reading his lips to learn the lyrics…

watching his dance moves to learn the rhythm…

feeling the beat my mother tapped on my arm...

The song was…. For The Longest Time by Billy Joel.

For me, it was the day music was born. I learned the importance of music that day. I have been faithful to the Billy Joel's music collection every since. My friends in the neighborhood caught on how I could understand lyrics and music. Naturally, my sister first choice was to teach me Quiet Riot to much of my parents dismay. The rest of the kids on the block taught me Bon Jovi, Poison, Joan Jett, Motley Crue, Metallica, and so on. All I ever needed were the lyrics on hand and for you to sing and dance in front of me. It's a wonderful experience and something I still get pleasure out of to this very day with everyone I meet.

Hearing Billy Joel "For The Longest Time" tonight… put me into a very sentimental mood of the good old days.

I may have told this story once or twice before, but I find it worth repeating.