It is interesting how people we meet influence us. I am a lover of vinyl records. I currently have one hundred records in my own personal collection. But first, let me tell you the story of how I got so interested in them, and the lady behind me getting my first record player.

Music has always been a major part of my life. Many of my family members have been, and are, musicians. I’ve been going to concerts almost my entire life. My first concert was when I went to the Bonnaroo Music Festival at only eleven months old. But I didn’t have interest in vinyl records until I met my friend Dot.

Dot was my neighbor that lived two houses down. She was an older lady in her eighties. She lived alone and didn’t have many family or friends around. So I started visiting with her because she was very nice to me. She would make me lunch and dinner sometimes. Dot had dementia but she would always remember me. What she really liked to do was play me her Beatles records. Whatever we were doing, the Beatles played in the background.

Then one day Dot was gone. Her granddaughter told us that she had to go to a nursing home. A couple of weeks later, Dot passed away. I did not go the funeral but my mom did. At the funeral, Dot’s granddaughter talked to my mom. She said that I had been Dot’s only friend at the end of her life and that she was grateful her grandma had a friend while she was all alone and getting sicker. She gave my mom a thank you card for me. It had a hundred dollar bill in it and it said to get something to remind me of Dot.

Later that day my mom took me shopping. I decided I’d like to get a record player to remind me of Dot. We went to the Erie Mall and the Meadville Mall but we couldn’t find a record player. The next day we ordered one online.

The next week I waited so very anxiously for it to come. I saw the box on the doorstep when I got home from school. I ran in and opened the box immediately. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I finally had my own record player! It was black with two little red stripes on the top and bottom. It looked like a small

leather suitcase. It had its own speaker so I could take it anywhere and play music. Of course my first record was a Beatles album. I’ll have to thank my dad for that.

Since that day, I have grown my collection to one hundred records. I often go with my dad on record digs. That means we go to yard sales, flea markets, thrift stores, and any other place else there may be any old records. We have cleaning equipment that we use to wash them and make them sound nice again. Sometimes we sell them online and make money to buy more. It is a special thing me and my dad do together. But I always will remember how it started with Dot and the Beatles.