LP Memories...

This album came out when I was 10, when a 19-year-old girl named Michelle lived with us in San Francisco. My parents offered her room and board and use of the car, in exchange for helping around the house and caring for my little brother and me. Eventually she made the move with us to Los Angeles where my folks put her in school. Michelle was a “hippie” I suppose, energetic, smart and joyful. She was deeply involved in Native American culture and would wake me up every morning at sunrise to sit with her on the roof of our house and pray to the God, Wankantanka. From a deerskin pouch, she’d take a pinch of tobacco and toss it to the east, one to the west, and more to the north and south. She would sometimes give thanks, other times she would ask him to watch over me, to ensure that I have a good day at school, or horseback riding or whatever. (I remember being amazed that you could speak to a god in such a casual way!)

Many times, in the middle of the night, I would be woken by the sounds of Stevie Wonder’s “Innervisions” coming from the living room. I would quietly make my way down the stairs and stand and watch as Michelle danced in the dark; her head tossed back, long hair whipping around her body, her smiling face barely seen in the moonlight through the windows. And although she eventually moved on to new adventures, this album, and the memories of her, always remained.