When we're young, most parents teach us children a variety of life lessons through many different mediums. Say "please" and "thank you," look both ways before crossing the street, pick up your feet, chew your food then you can speak, elbows off the table, be a gentleman and be a lady. Aside from teaching us lessons that will allow us to help others (and in turn help ourselves), they also teach us how to enjoy life.

Many parents do it in a variety of ways: storytelling, fun trips to parks, concerts, heck while we're at it, let's go to an airshow! All fun and very much so, memorable. However, the thing that is passed down to us, the true legacy from our parents that sticks with us to the very end, is the playing of music. A single note in any octave can trigger a pleasant memory. Maybe it will remind you of a road trip your family took one summer all the way across the country. Perhaps even remind you of the various stops you took at landmarks like the Grand Canyon or the notorious Route-66. Though music can trigger happy and enlightening memories, they can also bring back sad feelings. Perhaps they remind you of a loved one who was lost long ago. Though you are reminded of them, the song guides you back to the very moment they introduced you to this song. Maybe you were walking in the mall and as soon as you passed by this little cookie kiosk, the song begins to play over the inner-comm. They then point out the song and explain the meaning of said song. And now that they're gone, that one moment is probably one of the only moments that you specifically remember the very time, location and day when that memory took place.

Here, I journey through two songs that spark an eruption of childhood memories whenever their notes find their way into my head.

Where I'm from, most kids grow up listening to a song called "Simple Man". The song depicts a conversation between a mother and her son. She is talking to her son about life. Though it may have struggles, they're not permanent as long as you set a goal for yourself to be happy and don't live a complicated life. Hence the title of the song. I, however, learned of a different story through music. I remember the very moment where I actually acknowledged the song itself. Being multiracial, I have various kinds of culture available to me to experience. The song my father played me every since I can remember is a tune by a Mexican band by the name, Maná. It goes by the name of "Clavado En In Bar." Translated, it means "Stuck in a Bar." Yes, not a very traditional song to play to a child. However, I was innocent. I didn't know the meaning of the song, only the words and the tune. I remember the day I asked my dad what the song actually meant and what story it told. We were outside our house in Jacksonville, North Carolina, washing our maroon Ford Expedition. Along doing that, we were jamming to some Maná. When I asked my dad, he laughed and said, "Trapped in a bar." He proceeded to translate some of the lyrics as the song went on, "Open your heart a little, let your heart love, come and take me out of this bar." The song was about a sad man who is unloved by the woman he's in love with. He's drowning in his helplessness and is hopelessly begging for her to open up to him and rescue him from the funk he is in. To this day, every time I hear the stroke of an electric guitar, it brings me back to that day: that fun day we were washing that old truck. Yes, the battery may have died a few times while on the interstate, but hey, life isn't interesting if things don't go wrong, right? We did so much in that truck. We did cross-country road trips, visited world monuments in the country, got stuck in the parking lot of a Lowe's at some point because the battery wouldn't spark. Regardless of the moment, every note played on an electric guitar, every beat played on a drum, it all brings back these memories. There are other songs like "Oye Mi Amor" and "Rayando el Sol" that do the same effect. But Clavado En Un Bar is really what does it for me.

Now you're asking, "So is it your mom who introduced the second song to you?"

Well, yes. She is the one that introduced this next song to me. The song is about, from what I can understand, finding the one person you're meant to be with, and in that very moment, you forget to breathe. You continue to live through this feeling over and over...forgetting to breathe because of the remarkable beauty you have encountered. "Breathe in, Breathe Out" by Mat Kearny. We were walking in the Jacksonville Mall past a cookie stand (you know, the huge ones in the middle of the whole place, but they're temporary, so you don't know how they find the people to construct and demolish the giant thing?). Out of nowhere, the song plays on the sound system throughout the entire mall. My mom stopped my sister and I and pointed the song out to the both of us. We sang along to it for the duration of its playing (even though we knew absolutely no word to it) and we just sounded like a couple of annoying kids. It was a memory I didn't know until now would have such a big effect on me. Years passed on, and so did she eventually. It was a struggle, yes. However, my dad, sister and I pulled through it. We now reside happily in North Carolina. Though my mom is physically gone, I know her love has not left me or this world. I can relive it through the music. Not only that, but I am a true believer that love is reborn in newfound love, and I can truly see that in my stepmom today. A strong, creative, wise mother of three. Music has helped me pull through many things in life. Now it's time for me to experience life with different music to ensure these memories I make are forever with me.