Haha, that's so awesome, thank you for sharing that personal story about your crush on the musician. Aww, also thanks for sharing the story about crying to Richard Marx in the 80s. That's beautiful.

I lived in the southwest part of the states for half of my childhood, and took Spanish in high school. I wholeheartedly agree about the Spanish language being pretty.

It sounds like your family might be more musical than mine, but my dad was in a band, briefly in high school several decades ago. My brother took piano lessons growing up. My dad plays piano for my stepmom on a regular basis, it's lovely and I miss hearing that. My stepmom had a pretty big record collection, and I listened to a lot of that growing up - everything from ABBA to Fleetwood Mac to Pink Floyd. I was a teen in the 80s, and though I rolled my eyes at Richard Marx and many other soft-rockers, I still sought out music from bands like Chicago, Tears For Fears, Level 42, and many others. Following a serious bout of interest in classic and glam rock, I got more into alternative/indie in the late 80s. In the early 90s, back in Canada I got further into alternative, appreciating indie dance music more and more. I collected records for a couple years and had a brief stint as a DJ in a night club. Music has always been a source of healing, expression, and love for me. I've known a couple people in the music scene, behind the scenes, but have since lost touch. One worked for iTunes and another was a local promoter/club owner. The dawn of Apple Music this year was like a dream come true!

Haha, there's the end of my nerding out on music. I'm so glad to hear you never grew out of Richard Marx. The world needs more troubadours.