My Mom has played guitar since she was nine years old. To this day, she plays a twelve string guitar and at almost 90 years old, her singing voice is still beautiful, clear and strong.

Being a lifelong country music fan, Mom’s dream was to visit Nashville and the Grand Ole Oprey.

This trip with my parents (as were all of our trips with them), was about making dreams come true.

After leaving West Virginia, our next stop was Nashville, Tennessee where we’d spend two days touring. I had also secured tickets for an evening at the Grand Ole Oprey.

Hubs and I had visited Nashville a few years previously, but experiencing it again through the awe and excitement of my parents was top notch.

After checking into our hotel, we headed downtown to see the Country Music Hall of Fame.

After we had toured there, hubs and I waited outside while Mom and Dad looked around the gift shop. They seemed to be taking a long time, so I went back in to see if they were ok.

Well! Lo and behold if my Mom hadn’t spotted Paul Brandt, an up and coming Canadian country music artist from our neighbouring province of Alberta. Paul was most friendly and engaging and told us he’d be on the Oprey stage that night. We told him we had tickets for that show and were looking forward to seeing him perform.

That night at the Grand Ole Oprey, Paul Brandt dedicated a song to us! Mom was in her glory – how perfect!

Mom and Dad thrilled to be here
With Paul Brandt
All dressed up for the Oprey

The next day, we toured Studio B in Nashville, where so many superstars had recorded, including Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley, and Floyd Cramer. It was surreal to be in the same place some of my music heroes had been. That afternoon, we toured the Ryman Auditorium (the original home of the Grand Ole Oprey), so my Mom had a a lifelong dream fulfilled standing on that stage and posing with Dad, hubs, and me for a photo op.

Playing Floyd Cramer’s piano at Studio B
I got to sit on the same chair Elvis sat on to record in Studio B!
Newest Oprey stars

After leaving Nashville, we were off to Memphis to tour Graceland.

This was another place that hubs and I had visited before, but it was again a place that was wonderful to show my parents. Neither of them were big Elvis fans, but after the Graceland tour, they had a change of heart. This happens to many who visit Graceland because you learn good things there about Elvis that were never made public knowledge.

We toured Elvis’s private plane
At the stables in back of Graceland
A soda shop stop – gotta love these two!

Photo Note: My feature photo is of Mom playing guitar in a music store/recording studio in downtown Nashville. We saw a $2500 guitar on the wall and I asked the salesman if Mom could play it because she’d never handled a guitar that expensive in her life. The salesman said, “Would she like to play a ten thousand dollar guitar?” I thought Mom was going to faint as the beautiful instrument was handed to her. She played sweetly and lovingly, as always and when I looked at my Dad, I saw that his eyes were filled with tears, love, and pride.