I remember.

I was 10 years old and I was sitting in the back seat of my parents car. We were waiting for my dad, who had run into the store.

Mom turned on the radio, while we were waiting. A commercial was just ending and the DJ announced the next song as “Maggie May” by a new artist named Rod Stewart.

It was pouring rain and I leaned my forehead on the window, watched the drops trickle down, and then my tears started to trickle down my cheeks. I felt the pain in his voice and thought to myself – how hard it must be to love someone and then be hurt so deeply, that you never want to see their face again.

That was my first experience with music. I had never really listened before, but at that moment – at ten years old – as the melody seeped into my soul and the lyrics twisted up my heart, I knew music would become an integral part of my life.

That was the beginning of, not just my love affair with Rod Stewart, but my love affair with music. And unlike all the other affairs I’ve ever had, music has never let me down.