He downloads music onto his computer and then listens to it when he's bored of TV or he's done searching the internet for whatever. Some evenings I arrive at his apartment door and the muffled music and inaudible words of a familiar song greet me as I put the key in the lock. My opening the door startles Bug as he'd been right into the music and unable to hear me entering.
Steam and pop music fill the bathroom when Bug's having his soaking time in the tub. An old ghetto-blaster from his teenage years sits on a little table by the toilet, tuned to one of his favorite stations. Lots of times Bug will get an impromptu lip-sync performance from me as I'm soaping up all his body parts.
Bug's burned several CDs for each of the different road trips we've taken. He made his premier CD for our inaugural trip to Oregon for the men's gathering; this was the trip of our first 'I love you'. Since then my glove compartment has filled up with more and more discs created with the latest songs by top pop artists
Bug has his favorite songs and through him I've come to appreciate some singers that I wouldn't have given the time of day to. For example, Britney Spears. I thought she was only popular with teeny-bopper girls and tabloid headlines, but it seems she's attracted the gay disabled crowd as well.
As per the example above, Bug tends to be drawn to female singers as the majority of space on each disc is devoted to them: Pink, Katy Perry, Fergie, Kelly Clarkson and most definitely Lady Gaga. Got to have the Gaga.
I've looked over at Bug nestled in the passenger seat as we're careening down the I5 and his head is bobbing to the music and his lips moving to the lyrics. He gets right into the whole experience, the feelings and vibe of a song he really loves. When he catches me glancing over at him he stops immediately, gives me this sheepish grin, rolls his eyes to the roof the car and says 'What?'.
At Bug's brother's wedding last fall I hauled his skinny butt our of his wheelchair and got him moving with me on the dance floor. His Mom even took over and danced a slow song with her eldest boy. It's a hoot to drag Bug around the room, weaving between dancing couples. He laughs and his eyes come alive. Where at home he has a private interaction with his favorite songs, it must bring a different experience of them to him moving through space with me securely holding him.
I must be a bit more exhilarating when I slide the footplates of his wheelchair out of the way, wrap my arms around his torso and lift him to standing. I adjust my grasp around his ribcage, shift his weight and then... we're off!
Until the next time...
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