I dreamed about Guns N' Roses last night. For those of you that don't know, Guns N' Roses was one of the most prolific rock bands during the late 1980's and early 1990's. It featured Axle Rose as lead singer (I had a huge crush on that skinny red head - thank God I matured!), Izzy Stradlin on rhythm guitar, bassist Ole Beich (although I only remember Duff McKagan, his replacement) and drummer Rob Gardner who was later replaced by Steven Adler (again, this is the performer I remember), oh, and one of the greatest guitarists of my time, Slash.

Now before you go up in arms claiming that Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Santana, or even Stevie Ray Vaughn (amoung others) are the greatest, let me just explain that I'm not stating that he is the best ever, just one of the greatest. He can make his guitar talk, shout, scream, and even lullaby. And, now he does commercials for Saab. Although I do think that is a bit of a sell out, I am forgiving of it simply because I understand the desire to eat and food must be payed for somehow. Also, I'm a bit thankful that he is back in the public's eye, sharing his wonderful talent with us. Not only does the public get to experience him and his music once again, it also gives me a chance to teach Bug about the wonders of Guns 'n' Roses, how they fit into the history of music, why they became so popular, and the effect that their music has had on the music industry up to this point. This wonderful music history lesson had great potential and went a little like this:

I look at my son and say,"Bug, do you know who that is playing the guitar on that commercial?"

"No, but he has really wrinkly hands. It's gross!" He replies, but continues to stare at the TV.

"Yes, honey, he's getting old and that's what happens. But did you know that he was the lead guitarists for the band Guns'n'Roses?" I say as I sneak a look to see Slash's hands, which are rather wrinkled.

"Oh. Yeah. His hands are really wrinkly." Continues to stare at the TV.

"Yeah, well, his name is Slash and he was VERY popular when I was a teen ager. I even have some of their music. I can play it for you sometime, well... I can play a couple of songs for you because, well, you know, language."

He looks at me briefly,"Oh. That's okay, Mom."

Pause.

"So, Bug, isn't it cool that one of the greatest guitarist of my time is on TV."

"I guess."

While it didn't go as I thought, with my Bug staring at me in fascination as I explained the roots of rock, blues, guitars "talking", how politics and sociology played into it all, I did at least finally understand how it feels to be a parent, how I am now the uncool one (although, coolness was only in my own mind anyway), and the significance of all those history lessons my father gave to us at the dinner table, during a TV show, while making rootbeer floats, riding in the car, tying our shoe laces... These lessons are still around, only now I listen more attentively and have a few of my own. Which means that I know that I am planting a seed and because of this I will not give up. I mean, I have to do something to get him away from the insidious hip-hop that has infested his interest. Although, I sometimes I get pulled into the bump, bump, bump and even learn the words to an occassional song. So, I guess it's not so bad, but before he invests his musical interest into just one genre, I want to make sure I'm there to show him all the other genre's and their histories, their roots, which are all planted in the same soil.

But I digress. I was telling you about my cool dream. Although, now it doesn't seem as cool. I'm not sure how meeting the band, having the hotel room next to them, going to the concert by way of walking down a highway in the woods (because there was a fire on the road so we couldn't use our cars), then having to wait on the side of the road with the band is not cool. But it just doesn't compare to the realization that my paents' sharing of their knowledge, their personal experiences and history and how it has shaped my world is one of the many ways that these wonderful people have shown me and, of course, my siblings their deep love for us. But this sharing of knowledge and history is not just a showing of love, it's a passing of legacy. The child will eventually become the parent, the aunt, the uncle, the grandfather or grandmother and they will, in turn, have stories for the child. The realization that I have become that legacy, that I am passing it on just as my father did is monumental. No, wait, it's not just monumental, it's cooler than cool, possibly the coolest.