“so kiss me and smile for me…” peter, paul & mary

it’s no secret that i was born and raised one/half  hippie heart. 

upstairs in the hall closet growing up was a stash of my mom’s vinyl records. some bob dylan. some beatles. some peter, paul & mommy, too.
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downstairs in our cleveland street house you would often find my mom. folding the laundry. the couches changed over the years, from bright orange and brown plaid - traded in for a navy blue floral. the laundry pile bigger from added larson baby girls. but the background music stayed the same. peter, paul & mary. the pbs special. my mom would sing loud. and we’d sing along as we played, too. especially the parts where they’d stop to let the audience join in. oh – we joined in. sometimes my mom’s singing would start to quiver a bit. usually around the time when puff’s green scales fell like rain. and we’d keep singing and dancing and growing up…
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a little lovely lindsay accompanied her mama to her very first concert. all dressed up pretty. and there they were…
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i have an image in my head. plain as day. it’s me. my mom. and lukey – boy. a concert hall. the curtains go up and there they are. the three of them guitars in hand. we clap. loud. and lucas would say, “ is that peter? and paul? and mary?!!!'” then we’d start in on “if i had a haaaaammer… i’d hammer in the mor –or- nin, i’d hammer in the eeeeeeeeve, all over this laaaaaand!”
i was so sure we’d get to do that. 
 

{mary travers 1936-2009}
i'm grateful for a brave girl with long blond hair and swooshy bangs. who sang her heart out for me while i grew up.