You know how some people say that a song can bring back a thousand memories? While I am unsure about that number, I know there is one particular song I can tie to one particular memory in my life and to this day, every time I hear it, I recall this story.

A little bit of background first: I was raised by my grandparents. I grew up in a small Podunk town similar To La Grande or Baker or any of a thousand other small towns in the U.S. There were pretty much just 2 things to do where I grew up: get into trouble and get into MORE trouble. I did both very well.

My grandpa died in the summer of 1975 and I became even more rebellious than before. I stayed out late, partied a lot, and generally became pretty well-known in town as a trouble maker. I was all of 16.

Later that summer, for no reason other than I had my uncle’s car and we had nothing better to do, we decided to take off; not a vacation or a day trip to the coast or something; we decided to run away. So my best friend and I picked up my girlfriend and another “girl” friend of mine and took off. I will now relate the basics of the trip with names changed to protect the guilty.

My best friend, we’ll call him Ron, and I picked up my girlfriend, Leeann, and my other friend, Eileen, around noon on a warm August day. We were driving around, each of us fed up with this shitty little town we lived in, and the subject came up of running away. We went by Eileen’s so she could pick up some stuff since she wanted to go to Bremerton to get together with a guy she had recently met. We filled up the car with gas and took off. We had about $10 between the four of us.

It was a long drive in the hot summer sun, but we were young and invincible and stupid, so we drove on to see a guy only one of us knew (slightly) in a town we had never been in. I always drive with the radio on, so there was no lack of entertainment as Ron or I would make up silly lyrics to songs. We didn’t even give a second thought to the fact we had basically stolen my uncle’s car and were driving in another state.

We got to this guy’s apartment and Eileen went in to talk to him. We hoped he’d have a place for us to crash out for a couple of days. The rest of us knew there was trouble when she came back crying. This guy she knew (we’ll call him A-hole), had been lecturing her since the minute she walked in his door. He came out in just his jeans and glared at all of us. He asked how much money we had and I said about $2 (we had stopped and bought sodas and had McDonald’s as well). He tossed a $5 at me and basically told us to get the “f” home. Ron wanted to punch him but luckily Leeann and I were in the front seats and he couldn’t get out.

With Eileen still crying, we set about finding a place to stay. We knew absolutely nothing about the town, so we just drove around a while until we found a park. We drove to the most secluded back parking lot we could find and stopped. We didn’t get that much sleep that night; maybe an hour or so. You know: young, invincible, etc.

The next morning we bought some gas and decided to head home, our tails between our legs, and hope we didn’t get tossed in jail for theft or kidnapping (my girlfriend was 14).

The drive home was longer and hotter than the day before; at least that’s how it felt. As usual, I had the radio playing. As everyone else drifted off to sleep, I just kept on driving and singing. I heard music, nothing else, as I began to drift toward the right shoulder on the freeway. Leeann told me to slow down if I was going to pull over. I heard music. She said it louder. Still, I heard music. The nest time she yelled it. I heard a whisper as the car moved into the gravel and started to slide.

I instinctively slammed on the break, yanked up on the emergency break, and tried to keep the car from going completely sideways. We slid to a stop. Ron and I got out of the car and looked around. The dust cloud caught up to us and we got back into the car (or so I am told). Then, I woke up.

Several cars pulled over on either side of the freeway to see if we were all okay. Ron and I walked ahead of the car to see where we “might” have gone off the road. About 200 feet in front of where we slid to a stop was a 500 foot deep ravine. We looked at each other and then went back to the car.

During the whole ordeal, the song playing on the radio: Elton John’s “Someone Saved my Life Tonight.” Yes, music can tie us to events, places, feeling, and even other people; often to memories that have a strong significance in our lives. Never take for granted the power of music and how it can move us.