I graduated from High School in 1980 and that was also the year the country music band Alabama made their splash over the radio with the song," My home is in Alabama." It quickly rose to number one on the charts and the rest of their story is history.
In 1981 they kicked off a first tour and called it, "Feels So Right". The band had booked several small shows before their initial tour and I went to one which was off the beaten path in North Carolina. It was in a high school auditorium. In all around 150 people were there. I took my girl friend and at that time she did not know about the band.
It may be hard to believe now, but until the first tour was well under way most people had never heard of Alabama.That night they played for over two hours which meant some of their music was borrowed from other artist because they simply had not developed much of their own at that point.Also, that night I purchased a tee shirt of their first tour. I had an opportunity to go around to each band member and have them autograph it.
I took it home and hung it over my head board as a trophy.That summer Alabama become the big act in country music. Every tour after that one sold out and today Alabama remains one of the most successful bands in the history of the industry. They have sold over 70 million records.
Question? What happened to my Tee Shirt? Well, the following summer I married the girl I took to the concert. I soon went to college and entered the ministry. We got on with our lives and moved a couple of times.Somehow during our move a box of our stuff ended up with my sister-in-law.
A few years later She needed to refinish some furniture and found a box with some old cloths. Digging through the box she found a shirt with some scribling on it. Guess what? Yes... my trophy became an over shirt for staining furniture. If that was not enough she then thought it wise to through the old shirt in the washing machine.
She has often wondered if I could forgive her such an atrocity. Val... I love you more than you know. It was just and old shirt that probably would have been worth its weight in gold today. I have never seen or heard of another shirt like it.
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However, I remember the first time you hugged me and welcomed me to the family. Rather than judge me by my actions the previous evening, which left many embarrassed, you were able to look beyond and extend grace. Val grace is an amazing thing. It has a very short memory. By the way...the book you gave me by Phillip Yancey many years ago taught me much about the subject.
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