I need to thank God for Melanie more often.

Melanie and I have known each other for AGES. more than a decade, less than two, but somewhere in the middle there. She is the one person who I know, through everything, will be at my side...because that's just where she's always been. We fight, we disagree, and you couldn't find two people more different (except for maybe me and Judy). But we love each other, we are honest with each other, and we kick each other in the ass when we need to.

Today, Melanie was discussing declaring her major...and I remembered how simple it was to pick music as my major. For a long time I had a musical identity crisis...I didn't think I wanted to be a musician. I thought I wanted to be an enabler, someone who made it easier for musicians to do what they do best...change people's lives through the beauty of song.

I forgot, somewhere along the way, that I should be changing people's lives through music, not sitting behind a desk somewhere, even if sitting behind that desk meant I could help someone else realize their dreams. What the heck happened to my dreams? When did I become such a coward? I have been through too much in my life to give up my dreams, to run scared from them because the road would be long and hard, and I may fail miserably. Since when has any road worth going down been short and without any bumps?

You might be asking, WHAT does this have to do with Melanie? The other thing about Melanie is she always says what I NEED to hear, even when I don't want to hear it, or even when she doesn't know that what she's saying is what I need to hear. Knowing that Melanie was in the process of realizing her dreams, I remembered today that I love singing, and that I want to write and perform music. I want to do it because its fun, it makes me feel wonderful, and because people love my voice, and I love that. I am re-declaring my dream: I want to sing for a living, until the day I croak.

So I pulled out my old theory books and workbooks, and I'm reviewing the contents as soon as this blog is complete. Wish me luck, and no, I won't forget the little people. I promise.