Thanks, and I agree - it is our humanity that connects us all.

I'm grateful that I still have many of my dad's LPs, and of course, memories of many an afternoon sitting in his apartment, drinking green tea, and sharing whatever music was on the menu that day.

And it went both ways. Both of my parents were very open musically. I remember when I brought Emerson Lake and Palmer's album "Tarkus" to play for my dad, I was maybe eleven, and they had completely blown apart my notions of musical limits; as if there are any.

My dad listened to the whole thing, and when it was over, he commented that while it wasn't his music, he understood why I liked it, because they displayed exceptional musicianship. That always stuck with me, because it was the first time I had heard him use the word in reference to a rock album. This is the guy, after all, who hated the Beatles. ;-)