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Thursday, April 19, 2012

Q is for...

"Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)" by Backstreet Boys


Yeah, I was one of these girls.  Upon looking it up, I guess I was seven when this CD came out, but I feel like I was older.  I know my love for them lasted into the double digits, so maybe that's what I'm thinking of?  No idea.

Anyway, the story here is about my brother.  He is fourteen years older than me, making him around twenty-one at the time the Backstreet Boys hit the scene (for those not awesome with math).  Technically my first CD was the Space Jam soundtrack, but my brother bought me my first "real" CD, which was the first Backstreet Boys album.  For the longest time I didn't think too much of it, other than that I have a nice brother who loves me.  He got me my first CD, my first PG-13 movie, plus he taught me how to tie my shoes.  What a guy!

But I found a new respect for it one evening at college.  All the girls in my dorm hallway loved music, so there was always some playing somewhere.  One night someone decided it was time to reminisce and play Backstreet Boys.  I mentioned that my brother bought their CD for me, and then it occurred to me that he was about the age I was when he did it.  Then I thought about the guys I knew who were my age, and tried to picture any of them walking into a music store and picking up a boy band album.

I suddenly felt a whole new appreciation for all the nice things my brother did for me growing up.  Going to college really did a lot for my relationship with him in general, since up till then he had always been an adult dealing with a child, but then I started becoming an adult.  I thanked him for sacrificing some pride back in the day to get me the BSB album, and he just laughed a little.  Either because he completely forgot about it, or it was more embarrassing than I realized.

1 comment:

Life Strings said...

That was really sweet of him :) and even sweeter that you acknowledged his effort :) I have a younger brother, who sacrificed almost all of his savings when he was 14, and I was 19 then, to get me a mug on my birthday. I have that mug even today, when its broken and of no use :)