Joshua Tree 25

Until the release of Joshua Tree my favorite song was Bad. Let it go .. uh huh and so fade away.. walk away. Exactly what I did. I walked away from an abusive, unfaithful husband. The excitement surrounding the release of U2's new cassette was such a bright spot for me at this time. Back then we got our music at Music Stores! There was a hippie music store in Old Town Auburn that I would get lost in for hours. Remember when you would put on the head phones to sample an album?

When I got off work that Monday night, March 9, 1987, I went straight to the shop where the displays were so awesome! When I bought my tape I also bought a Joshua Tree Patch. The patch was big enough to plaster all over the back of a jacket. So I went straight to Daughtrey's Department Store and bought a black denim jacket especially for my patch. The jacket was snug because I was six months pregnant with my son. I still wear this 25 years later. The One pin was just added last year.

I played this tape in the car every day for my hour commute down to Sacramento to work. I would bring it in the house and play it on my boom box. It even brought it to the American river the whole summer while my sister in law Connie and I grew bigger and bigger with our boys in our bellies! They were due 8 days apart. Her's was called Jimmy and mine was to be Joshua Sean.

Because I grew up in Joshua Tree country in the Mojave Desert I was fascinated that this Irish band was so enchanted by our trees. The first single was 'With our Without You'. This song completely encapsulated my life and my relationship with my hubby. And 'Bullet the Blue Sky' was so pertinent to the Iran-Contra affair and times as I watched the whole trial with Oliver North that summer.

MLK was little Patrick's lullaby, I felt the tenderness of Bono's voice.