Commentary: Getting Back To Country Roots In Nashville

"I still act an' look the same,

"What you see ain't nothin' new.

"I was country, when country wasn't cool."

-- Barbara Mandrell, singing a song written by Kye Fleming and Dennis Morgan

In 1981, my parents took me to Opryland USA in Nashville, Tenn. It was the first vacation of my young life and the first we'd taken as a family.

I traveled most of the way sprawled in comfort on a large mattress tailor-made for the back of our cornflower blue 1978 Ford Fairmont station wagon. Funny, without seat belts, car seats or air bags, we managed to get there just fine.

And did I ever have a time! I got drenched on the log ride, stayed for hours in the petting zoo (where I fell in love with a deer) and was mesmerized by live musical performances (where I fell in love with The Oak Ridge Boys).

How exciting to see the faces of the men whose voices I was so accustomed to hearing from our console radio cabinet. I thought Nashville was a little slice of heaven.

With happy new memories swirling in my head, I curled up with a blanket and snuggled in for the long ride back home. A few miles down the road, as I lay quietly in the back of the station wagon, just about to drift off to sleep, I heard my father utter words that immediately shattered the contented climate of the car and changed the course of our lives forever.

Divorce. Leaving. Not coming back.

Perhaps there's never a good time to have that conversation, but I submit there's got to be a better time than that.

Mom cried.

I cried.

And I watched the sparkling lights of Nashville fade into the distance.

It would be 25 years before my eyes would set sight on my father again. But Mom, with limited means and a broken heart, made sure it wouldn't be that long before we saw Nashville again.

She scrimped and saved, and in the late '80s, bought us passes to Fan Fair, a country music festival. For days, we hopped from concert to concert, enjoying the music, sights and sounds of the city once more. I remember Mom looking at me and smiling, proud in her attempt to repair our splintered remembrances as best she could.

In college, my class took a school trip to Nashville, visiting the Hermitage, Parthenon and other historical attractions the city has to offer. Another layer of memories were added to the pile.

And now, this week, a road trip with childhood gal pals has led me back to the city.

During the early discussions of where this road trip might lead, several sunny and adventuresome locales were tossed about and each dismissed for various reasons. One girl mentioned the fact she'd never been to Nashville, then another chimed in that she'd never been either.

"Have you?" they asked.

I nodded. "But it's been years. Let's go."

And so, I type this column while seated on a bench amid a lush garden near the entrance of what once was Opryland. So much has changed since I was last on these grounds.

The theme park closed nearly two decades ago and has long since been demolished to make way for a shopping mall. Floodwater ravaged the area in 2010, requiring vast restoration.

As for me, I've grown older, though arguably not grown up. And Mom, she's passed on. But she knew about the trip we were planning.

"Oh, lordy," she declared with a smile, "I wish I could go. Behave yourself."

She would have loved it. The familiar sounds of live music beckoned us along Broadway. Good meals, sight-seeing, lots of laughs and a few fun shopping excursions filled our days.

While touring the Country Music Hall of Fame, a billboard called to me in letters nearly as big as I:

"Going Back to Your Roots -- Country Music"

My reflection -- this time, that of a woman, not a child -- shown in the glass. Yet I still act and look much the same as I always have, with faded Levis, flannel shirts and toes tapping to the tunes of Waylon, Merle and Johnny.

I have nothing but good feelings for this place, for it was here I learned we never know what lies around the corner, so we best enjoy the song while it plays.

This one's playin' for you, Mom.

Commentary on 06/19/2014

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