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An Amazing PJ Moment with My Son

LongerRoadLongerRoad Posts: 72
edited July 2008 in The Porch
No better place to share this than here: I have a son who's 3 1/2. He was born 2 months early and spent 2 months in the hospital. LongRoad was a song that helped me through a very difficult time and it was the first song my wife and I played in the car when we finally were able to bring him home.

Fast forward 3 years...he now watches the Touring Band DVD with me and I tell him LongRoad is his song. He's constantly asking me to play the video for him and everytime we go in the car, he wants me to play LongRoad. It's gottne to the point where he actually knows 75% of the lyrics, and he ALWAYS sings "the sun will rise another day."

I can't express what this does for me. I'll admit: I'm a PJ fanatic. It's boaderling unhealthy how much I love this band. 6/30 at Mansfield was the most energy I've ever seen at a concert. I'm an addict.

But this new level - having my son involved in something that means so much to me, that really helped me get through a very difficult time with him, is beyond words. I have only the band to thank.

Having a healthy son is beyond explanation as it is and I don;t mean to downplay that experience by relating it to a band. And I certainly know in some ways it's been "forced" upon him because I love this band so much.

But it's beyond words the feeling I get when I LongRoad comes on and I'm sitting there, singing it with my 3 1/2 yr old son. He has no idea the meaning and emotions that song conjures up.

But it's a wicked trip.
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    fuckfuck Posts: 4,069
    that's awesome!!
    we need younger fans too, lol.
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    MichaelMcKevinMichaelMcKevin Posts: 1,161
    A beautiful story. Sharing the band with anyone is a great thing, but that's extremely special what you just wrote.
    Camden I '06, Camden II '06, Bonnaroo '08, Camden I '08, Camden II '08, Philly Spectrum II/III/IV '09, MSG I '10, MSG II '10, Made In America '12, Wrigley '13, Brooklyn II '13, Philly I '13, Philly II '13, ...
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    LongerRoadLongerRoad Posts: 72
    I've been wanting to post this story for a while but never got arounf to it. Tonight he and I were playing "trucks" and he stops and says, "daddy, can we watch the LongRoad video?"

    Mind you, I try to be careful about not "forcing" things on him, whether it be sports, music or whatever. But I often try to tell him about his time in the hospital and that song REALLY did help me through things, so it was a natural to incorporate it into the story.

    There are so many "moments" that parents experience with kids. One I'll always remember is singing that song with him on my lap. It's beyond words...
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    slightofjeffslightofjeff Posts: 7,757
    Super, super cool.
    everybody wants the most they can possibly get
    for the least they could possibly do
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    FifthelementFifthelement Lotusland Posts: 6,921
    That's beautiful! Thanks for sharing :)
    "What the CANUCK happened?!? - Esquimalt Barber Shop
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    rhcpjam1029rhcpjam1029 Posts: 1,956
    cool kid, cooler story.
    Beavis: All my friends are brown and red? What does that mean?
    Butthead: It means that his friends are like turds and that they like suck.
    Beavis: Heh heh. Oh yeah. Yeah! Get those spoons out of my face before I shove them up your butt!
    Butthead: Huh huh.
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    release30release30 Posts: 2,051
    Great story..Thx for sharing..........
    Conversations getting dull
    There's a constant ringing in my ears
    Sense of humor's void and numb
    And I'm bored to tears.......
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    girlinthewhitepantsgirlinthewhitepants Posts: 242
    Awesome story and I'm glad your son is healthy and strong!
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    ONCE DEVIDEDONCE DEVIDED Posts: 1,131
    yeah me and my princess both love PJ ( SHE IS 4 ( big 4 so she says)
    she comes and sits on my lap when im youtubing PJ stuff. she also recognises ed voice.
    se loves boots as apposed to albums ( she likes to hear the crowd singing songs)
    great to hear you have a bond going with the pj thing I have loved jumping around with my princess its a classic
    my wifes now corrupted her music as she now likes whams wake me up b4 you gogo
    DOH
    AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE
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    marcPJfanmarcPJfan Austin, TX Posts: 802
    Awesome story. Thanks so much for sharing. I'd be lying if I said my eyes didn't tear up.
    09/16/95, 09/16/96, 06/29/98, 07/02/98, 07/05/98, 09/08/98, 09/10/98, 09/11/98, 09/18/98, 09/19/98, 06/13/99, 10/30/99, 10/31/99, 05/29/00, 05/30/00, 10/14/00, 10/17/00, 10/18/00, 11/05/00, 10/20/01, 10/21/01, 12/06/02, 04/05/03, 04/06/03, 06/09/03, 10/22/03, 09/24/04, 05/12/06, 05/13/06, 05/27/06, 05/28/06, 07/22/06, 07/23/06, 06/11/08, 06/12/08, 08/01/08, 09/21/09, 09/22/09, 10/04/09, 05/03/10, 05/04/10, 05/06/10, 05/07/10, 07/02/11, 09/03/11, 09/04/11, 10/23/11, 11/15/13, 11/16/13, 10/19/14, 10/25/14, 10/26/14, 11/28/15, 04/23/16, 08/05/16, 08/07/16, 09/09/17, 08/18/18, 09/02/18, 09/04/18, 10/01/21, 10/02/21, 05/06/22, 05/07/22, 05/12/22, 05/13/22, 08/31/23, 09/02/23, 09/13/23, 09/15/23, 09/18/23, 09/19/23
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    culot4culot4 Posts: 775
    When he starts cussing, drinking, smoking, and complaining about the president....there is someone you can hang out with.
    Once in a while you can get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right.
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    Stephen FlowStephen Flow Posts: 3,327
    Awesome story very touching.

    On a lighter note, I was half expecting this thread to be about buying your kid pajamas at the store. :)
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    wahinewahine Posts: 86
    Very cool story, thanks for sharing. I hope to have a "moment" close to that with my daughters. I am always happy to see parents bringing their kids to shows. I was up front in VA beach last month and saw 2 elementary school aged boys in the orchestra section with their dads. One boy was sportin' a Mookie 10c shirt and the other was proud to have a blue mohawk. Both were sleeping on their dad's shoulder at the end of the show, but what a memory!
    Cheers to all of the awesome 10c parents!
    I'll ride the wave where it takes me
    I know I was born and I know that I'll die, the in between is mine. I Am Mine
    Til the Lightning Bolt sets you free


    Wahine - I'm a Lightning Bolt

    9/2/98, 7/1/03, 10/3/05, 5/30/06, 6/17/08, ED-8/16/08, 10/30/09, 5/13/10, 10/29/13, 10/14/14

    -RIP Hippiemom -
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    TunnelThroughDenialTunnelThroughDenial Posts: 767
    Allright - I teared up too. My boy, Forrest, came three weeks early and was such a little guy we were super worried about him.

    He is now a mere 11 weeks old so he isnt into PJ yet and I will have to try hard not to force it. I actually can't wait to have 'record night.'

    My plan is to really really avoid watching TV and instead when he is old enough we will plop on the couch in front of the stereo and play some vinyl.

    I even got him a 1978 Fisher Price turntable before he was born and he already has a record collection.

    Anyway - good for you, awesome story, I hope my boy is into it as well!
    |9.5.93Gorge|2.6.95Moore|5.7.98AROSpace|7.21.98Seattle|7.22.98Seattle|10.21.00PHX|11.5.00Seattle
    |11.6.00Seattle|6.6.03Vegas|6.7.03PHX|5.25.06Boston|7.22.06Gorge|7.23.06Gorge|9.21.09Seattle|9.22.09Seattle |10.6.09LA|11.19.13PHX|11.29.13Portland|12.6.13Seattle |10.22.14Denver| 8.8.18 Seattle | 8.10.18 Seattle

    EV Solo |7.15.11 Benaroya|7.16.11 Benaroya|4.13.12PHX|10.30.14Redmond|
    TOTD 11.11.16 San Fran
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    LizardkingLizardking Posts: 936
    Awesome story, my son last night goes, "Hey Dad, Guess who I am?" when we were getting ready to watch fireworks. Guess who he was trying to be...LOL
    http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f331/Lizardkings1/July42008110.jpg
    Lizardking

    http://www.myspace.com/lizardkings1

    (This Post May Have Been Edited By AT&T)
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    Red MosqitoRed Mosqito Posts: 1,229
    LongerRoad wrote:
    No better place to share this than here: I have a son who's 3 1/2. He was born 2 months early and spent 2 months in the hospital. LongRoad was a song that helped me through a very difficult time and it was the first song my wife and I played in the car when we finally were able to bring him home.

    Fast forward 3 years...he now watches the Touring Band DVD with me and I tell him LongRoad is his song. He's constantly asking me to play the video for him and everytime we go in the car, he wants me to play LongRoad. It's gottne to the point where he actually knows 75% of the lyrics, and he ALWAYS sings "the sun will rise another day."

    I can't express what this does for me. I'll admit: I'm a PJ fanatic. It's boaderling unhealthy how much I love this band. 6/30 at Mansfield was the most energy I've ever seen at a concert. I'm an addict.

    But this new level - having my son involved in something that means so much to me, that really helped me get through a very difficult time with him, is beyond words. I have only the band to thank.

    Having a healthy son is beyond explanation as it is and I don;t mean to downplay that experience by relating it to a band. And I certainly know in some ways it's been "forced" upon him because I love this band so much.

    But it's beyond words the feeling I get when I LongRoad comes on and I'm sitting there, singing it with my 3 1/2 yr old son. He has no idea the meaning and emotions that song conjures up.

    But it's a wicked trip.

    My daughter is getting ready to turn 2 in a few months and I'm hoping that in the next few years I'll have her singing some PJ songs along w/her Daddy! I think it's totally cool you and your son already share a little bond thru something in which you have a deep passion for (whether the little tike truly knows it yet or not).

    I know that I've already infected my daughter with the bug from a early age as I rocked her to sleep religiously every night to various play list that contained PJ, The Black Crowes, Ben Harper and Bob Marley and now she knows those bands instantly when I put them on. Right now she's going thru a big Bob Marley phase as she always ask me to put on "Marley"..LOL.

    Thanks for sharing your story and keep spreading the Jam!!

    Peace,

    RM
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    Bathgate66Bathgate66 Posts: 15,813
    thats awesome and very touching.
    it is also very poignant
    being that these memories will stay with him forever,
    even after you're long gone up the long road yourself.

    PS

    I was at both Mansfields - very good shows !
    For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
    That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
    platessmall.jpg
    ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES
    http://www.UNOS.org
    Donate Organs and Save a Life
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    i_am_minei_am_mine Posts: 53
    thanks for sharing this with us. thats really great that you and your son can share that together and how long road helped you out.
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    bookmusebookmuse Posts: 277
    Lizardking wrote:
    Awesome story, my son last night goes, "Hey Dad, Guess who I am?" when we were getting ready to watch fireworks. Guess who he was trying to be...LOL
    http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f331/Lizardkings1/July42008110.jpg



    Awesome photo!
    "Speak your mind even if your voice shakes" ~ M Kuhn
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    JeanwahJeanwah Posts: 6,363
    Thanks for your story, I just love reading the individual stories involving our children and how PJ has come to be truly sentimental in our families' lives.

    My 5 year old daughter, who has Down syndrome, loves Pearl Jam too, and will pick out Eddie and Jeff in pics and knows Ed's voice when a song happens to be playing, although she has no favorite songs.

    And Lizardking, I love that pic. My daughter does that Eddie pose all the time; I should take a pic of her doing it too! :)
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    BrainofdzBrainofdz Posts: 1,617
    teared up reading this one, just brilliant!, I have seen and heard many great things recently with Pearl Jam as a backdrop.There are many extrodinary individuals in this community, and its an honor to be among you all.
    "Stunned by my own reflection, It's looking back, sees me too clearly and I swore I'd never go there again, Not unlike a friend that politely drags you down,down,down"

    When you see me on the street, yell out "FAVO!!!"

    I've been to alot of Pearl Jam shows;So fucking what.
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    GmoneyGmoney Posts: 1,618
    i want to party with your son
    Further back and forth a wave will break on me, today...
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    Bathgate66Bathgate66 Posts: 15,813
    Brainofdz wrote:
    teared up reading this one, just brilliant!, I have seen and heard many great things recently with Pearl Jam as a backdrop.There are many extrodinary individuals in this community, and its an honor to be among you all.


    likewise, of this i am certain .

    :)
    For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
    That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
    platessmall.jpg
    ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES
    http://www.UNOS.org
    Donate Organs and Save a Life
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    LongerRoadLongerRoad Posts: 72
    there's nothing like it...having a kid is crazy on so many different levels. The whole PJ thing is one of many. Just this morning, we were running some errands, and he says, "can you put Pearl Jam on please?" We listen to LongRoad and he asks for another song. I put on Wash and he's in the back seat, bobbing his head.

    Some day I'll want to rip his head off becasue he did something stupid but right now I'm totally loving the "My dad loves PJ so I love PJ" phase.
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    TrixieCatTrixieCat Posts: 5,756
    What a lovely story.
    I have a 3.5 year old boy myself...I know how incredible their minds are. It is an awesome age.
    I am so happy he is healthy and happy and that you all made it through.
    The sun WILL shine another day. :)
    Peace to you and your family.
    Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
    And I don't feel right when you're gone away
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    marcPJfanmarcPJfan Austin, TX Posts: 802
    LongerRoad wrote:
    there's nothing like it...having a kid is crazy on so many different levels. The whole PJ thing is one of many. Just this morning, we were running some errands, and he says, "can you put Pearl Jam on please?" We listen to LongRoad and he asks for another song. I put on Wash and he's in the back seat, bobbing his head.

    Some day I'll want to rip his head off becasue he did something stupid but right now I'm totally loving the "My dad loves PJ so I love PJ" phase.
    It'll only get better. Wait until you take him to his first show. I took my oldest son, who will be 6 at the end of the month, to his first show last month in Tampa. He enjoyed it a lot.
    09/16/95, 09/16/96, 06/29/98, 07/02/98, 07/05/98, 09/08/98, 09/10/98, 09/11/98, 09/18/98, 09/19/98, 06/13/99, 10/30/99, 10/31/99, 05/29/00, 05/30/00, 10/14/00, 10/17/00, 10/18/00, 11/05/00, 10/20/01, 10/21/01, 12/06/02, 04/05/03, 04/06/03, 06/09/03, 10/22/03, 09/24/04, 05/12/06, 05/13/06, 05/27/06, 05/28/06, 07/22/06, 07/23/06, 06/11/08, 06/12/08, 08/01/08, 09/21/09, 09/22/09, 10/04/09, 05/03/10, 05/04/10, 05/06/10, 05/07/10, 07/02/11, 09/03/11, 09/04/11, 10/23/11, 11/15/13, 11/16/13, 10/19/14, 10/25/14, 10/26/14, 11/28/15, 04/23/16, 08/05/16, 08/07/16, 09/09/17, 08/18/18, 09/02/18, 09/04/18, 10/01/21, 10/02/21, 05/06/22, 05/07/22, 05/12/22, 05/13/22, 08/31/23, 09/02/23, 09/13/23, 09/15/23, 09/18/23, 09/19/23
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    catwomancatwoman Posts: 256
    LongerRoad -- Thanks for a lovely story. Come Back has a special meaning for me because of my daughter's illness, so I can relate.

    Lizardking -- Your son is a real cutie!
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    BrainofdzBrainofdz Posts: 1,617
    bump for a feel-good thread
    "Stunned by my own reflection, It's looking back, sees me too clearly and I swore I'd never go there again, Not unlike a friend that politely drags you down,down,down"

    When you see me on the street, yell out "FAVO!!!"

    I've been to alot of Pearl Jam shows;So fucking what.
  • Options
    bookmusebookmuse Posts: 277
    marcdmbfan wrote:
    It'll only get better. Wait until you take him to his first show. I took my oldest son, who will be 6 at the end of the month, to his first show last month in Tampa. He enjoyed it a lot.


    I'm thinking about taking my 6 year old to see Eddie. I know he'd love it, I just worry if it'll be too long for him to manage his energy. How'd your guy handle the hours?
    "Speak your mind even if your voice shakes" ~ M Kuhn
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    bookmusebookmuse Posts: 277
    marcdmbfan wrote:
    It'll only get better. Wait until you take him to his first show. I took my oldest son, who will be 6 at the end of the month, to his first show last month in Tampa. He enjoyed it a lot.


    I'm thinking about taking my 6 year old to see Eddie. I know he'd love it, I just worry if it'll be too long for him to manage his energy. How'd your guy handle the hours?
    "Speak your mind even if your voice shakes" ~ M Kuhn
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