this old guitar

 Remember that song by John Denver?

It was one of the first songs I learned to play on the guitar, and a fitting title for this blog post.

 When I recently went to southern Utah, I was standing in the garage of a home we own.

I happened to look down, and there in it's case, was the very first guitar I ever owned.

I hadn't seen it since my first years of college - I never knew what happened to it.

Needless to say, I was surprised and delighted - more so than I can express!

 My father bought that guitar for me when I was 14.

He and I drove down past Los Angeles somewhere, to a store a friend of his owned.

I tried out a few guitars and then saw this one hanging on the wall. 

I knew it was my guitar the second I saw it. 

It was a little more expensive than the others, but my dad was sweet and gave me his approval. 

I think I smiled the whole way home :) 

It's one of my favorite memories of just my dad and I. 

That was 36 years ago.

 I had many wonderful experiences with that first guitar.

Like the song says, it introduced me to some friends of mine, and brightened up some days :)

 So naturally, I brought it back home with me.

John surprised me by putting new strings on it for me, and I polished it up once again.

 I loved that guitar for many years, and still love it now.

But what I love about it the most, is that I have sons who can play it beautifully (Davy here)

I feel that it has not only come home once again, but come full circle as well :)