GNR’s “Sweet Child O’ Mine” may seem like a strange love song, but for me it is. Not-so-distant memories of the heat of an Eastern Washington summer, a new romance, Axl on cassette, and freshly cut grass. Life was exciting, the world was open, and the possibilities were endless.

I pulled out some old Guns-n-Roses the other day, and loved how it took me back.

Listening now with older ears, it served as a timely reminder that, despite the passage of 20 years in the blink of an eye, things are really not too different. The world is still open, anything is still possible, and that boy’s smile still warms my heart.