Well, Bless bones and Bless goodness, Dee...LOL. I'm glad Mom "ain't havin' it!". Ya know, if Mom ain't happy, things can tend to snowball...she could start cooking some
"religious dinners" i.e., burnt offerings and sacrifices, the love department can go into foreclosure...you get my drift.
Maybe play some of his favorite stuff while he's there, then crank on the rock-n-roll when he's out and about. Maybe the two of them could get up and dance abit. If there is such a thing, find a
safe record cleaner and get those records a'spinnin' again.
I can remember back in the day, it must have been late 50's, early 60's, I was about 7 years old, we would have a big dinner Sunday afternoons, followed by apple/peach coblers, and a big gallon of vanilla or chocolate ice cream, and later, aunts/uncles would show up with all our first cousins, and we would put the record player (a portable suitcase stereo with extension speaker) out in the yard and just dance. One or two of my uncles would bring their guitars and amps and play out in the garage playing jazz and blues.
The music was everywhere, and we were just a black family living on 60 acres of farmland back in western Pennsylvania, living off the land while my dad drove coal truck during the day. Times were so much easier (in a way) back then. Doors sometimes left unlocked, keys left in the ignitions of all vehicles, BUT...there was a firearm up in the camp.
My mom liked BB King and Jazz, my dad liked Charlie Pride and Johnny Cash...what a weird combination. Out of that culmination, I like CLASSICAL. It must have come from all those old black-n-white movies, or all the Looney Tunes cartoons that used Classical music.
Oops, didn't mean to go off into nastalgic land, but my point is to enjoy that old Magnavox and it may rekindle some good old memories when times weren't as complicated as they are now. I'm not saying live in the past, but enjoy/appreciate it for what it was and keep on stepping.
I don't know what kind of record collection they have, but maybe hit the thrift stores and see what's out there. I've bought literally hundreds of albums, many never opened, and maybe pop in to see your parents some Sunday afternoon with a bunch of records and have at it.
Okay, another long and boring essay/sermon from BB. Again, Dee, Yay for keeping the Magnavox!
Bobby Basham
Tucson, Arizona