For my birthday this year, my son took me to a concert. We went to see the Allman Brothers Band with Grace Potter & The Nocturnals at the Comcast Center in Mansfield, MA on September 6.

My most cherished memory from that fabulous, memory-filled Friday evening (and afternoon) came during The Allman Brothers Band’s  performance of their 1972 classic “Blue Sky.”  

As the song’s instantly-recognizable, harmonized opening guitar lick soared from the dazzling fingers of Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks, we rose together, cheering, with the thousands around us. We danced, my son and I, joyously. And then, as the band lifted the song off into the chorus, we looked at each other, smiled, and sang together at the top of our lungs: “You’re my blue sky, you’re my sunny day. Lord, you know it makes me high when you turn your love my way, turn your love my way, yeah.”

Happy 26th Birthday, my Son.

Here’s to many more years of cherished memories.