For my birthday, I made Phil take me to the theatre;*  the touring company of Jersey Boys was making its way across Canada, and Shana had told me that this show was not to be missed. It’s the story of The Four Seasons and Frankie Valli, and I couldn’t think of what would make it so good, but if Shana told me that cat pee was found to cure acne, I would probably believe her.  So I got Phil and I tickets for my birthday weekend extravaganza.

And you know what?  Shana was right!**

The story of the group was good and kept me interested throughout, but the music was what made this show.  If you had asked me the day before we saw the show what The Four Seasons sang, I couldn’t have told you a single song they sung.***  But as the show unfolded I couldn’t stop my toe from tapping along with hit after hit.

How does a child of the 80′s know every single song of this 60′s-era group?

I have my Mother to thank for that, of course!

My Mom loved her music, and we would sing along with the “oldies” as we washed the dishes at night.  And went on road trips.  And waited in line at the grocery store.

This got me thinking about how much Mom would have enjoyed every single moment of this show, and I could just imagine her shimmying in her seat along with “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and “Sherry, Baby”.  As clear as if it had already happened, I could see us driving home after the show singing (mostly off-key, and very loudly) “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You”, and laughing at how silly we were being.

As I imagined this night out that would never happen, I started to tear up – sad that I would never have the chance to sing along with my Mom again.  But just as quick as the sadness fell upon me, it was gone just as quickly.

I realized she will always be in my heart, and that she is with me in everything I do.  So, even if it’s just in my imagination, I can sing with my Mom any time I want.

*Because we’re all fancy, like that

**Duh, of course she was

***And despite my untapped knowledge of Frankie Valli songs, I was shocked to find out that Madcon wasn’t the original singer behind the most awesome “Beggin’”