SO it goes

There were tricycles for my twin brothers.

And there was a red bike with trainer wheels which was apparently for me and looked like fun. But no dog, although I did get a stuffed toy St. Bernard.

I felt some consolation about not getting a dog because I now had a bike and there would now be a phonograph in our shared bedroom.

I quickly learned, however, that there were rules that came with that record player and the number one rule was DO NOT TOUCH the record player.

The 'don't touch my things" was already an established rule, and as the little sister I knew my rights were limited, and precarious.

As an example, at one point Kathy decided that tape needed to be put down on the floor to define respective ownership of the room. I think this was inspired by an episode on the Patty Duke Show where Patty and Cathy had used tape to divide their bedroom. My situation was that Kathy's bed was on the same side of the room as the door and if the tape's line was strictly enforced I wouldn't be able to get in or out without violating her space.

Dividing the room with tape didn't last, but I still couldn't touch the record player and the value of a phonograph in our room continued to decline as other rules evolved.

I could listen to the record player, but it would only be whatever Kathy wanted to play.

I could listen to the record player, but only when Kathy decided it was time.

If I liked a song and asked to hear it again the chance of getting it replayed was zero.

Fortunately, we had a stereo console in our living room, and mom enjoyed music so I grew up listening to her records of Frank Sinatra and Elvis and other favorites. And even though I didn't get my own records I liked listening to my mom's records. Doris Day's Que Sera Sera still takes me back to those days, and makes me smile.

I grew up in the era of television, but radio and records were the primary providers of recorded music. An eight-track tape system for our car and cassette tapes were also added. I later had a Walkman and CD's, and an iPod and iTunes would join me in the twenty-first century. Streaming now gives me recorded entertainment that seems to get better each year.

Throughout those years, 45's and LP records were always being played and my Grandpa Mack had a small record store in San Jose where I could listen to some of the latest records. But he also collected 78's so that I had some unique audio exposure to those older phonograph records...which was serendipidous because early phonographs and records would later find a place in my life as I married a phonographian 33 1/3 years ago and became a Friend of the Phonograph.

I now annually celebrate the Birthday of the Phonograph and can repeat like a broken record something that I've probably heard more times than anyone else on planet Earth: "The Phonograph: It's a Revolution Still Turning!"