Wilson Phillips

I know you remember this group: the daughters of Michele Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas and Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. They had one album in the early 90s that I absolutely adored. I loved this album like no other. I listened to it over and over and over again. I had it in my Walkman for an entire summer, if not more. Whenever I hear any song from this album, I remember a summer long, long ago when my cousin Rhonda and I accompanied our grandparents up to Pine Mountain Lake, a beautiful lake outside of Yosemite. Rhonda's dad and stepmom spent the summers up there, waterskiing, playing, and in general, just hanging out. We spent 9-10 hours riding in the car to get up there, stopping at rest stops, giggling like little girls in the back seat of Grandpa's Mercury Cougar. My Grandma often joined us in giggling hysterically. When she got going, it was hard to get her to stop, so we would often collapse, breathless and red-faced, unable to talk for minutes at a time. I listened to this tape over and over and over again, dedicating most, if not all, songs to Joe McIntyre of the NKOTB. I dreamed of someday meeting him and taking him to Yosemite. I fell in love that summer with the outdoors, the magnificent beauty and incomprehensible expanse of Yosemite. I learned how to water ski (although not very well). I ate a lot of Corn Pops and peanut butter toast. I took showers in the afternoons, after the waterskiing time was over and we had successfully eaten all the ice cream in the snack bar. It was such a great summer, although there were fights and misunderstandings. And Rhonda's dad could be mean sometimes. But for the most part, we had a great time doing nothing in particular. Now, my grandmother has passed away, my grandfather has lost his mind, my uncle is dying of cancer and my cousin is expecting her first child. It's a tumultuous time in my family and most of us are not dealing so well. So it's really nice, on this gray, depressing day, to hear some songs from a long long time ago and remember that we all had such a great time together. And that summer will always be in my heart.