I was a few months out of High School and struggling to find my through my high school heart aches while struggling my way through my first semester of college. I thought my teen angst was over and behind me, but my late teens and early twenties would provide similar trials and tribulations as well as heart breaks. I remember listening to Mellon Collie on several nights and walks and putting all of my fears and sadness and hopes for the future into the songs. I remember listening to “Muzzle” on many occasions and fearing if I would ever make something of myself., “I fear that I, Am ordinary just like everyone, To lie here, and die, Among the sorrows…” . Would I find the right girl to settle down with, would I have a family, would I get my degree, would I have a career and be successful and whether or not I would make the right decisions. “I knew the emptiness of youth, And I knew, the solitude of heart…”.  In July of 2018, I attended the reunion concert in Philadelphia and it will forever be one the greatest most amazing concerts I have  ever attended. Hearing the songs that got me through my teen angst and seeing  James and Billy together again was such a memorable moment in time. The moment that will forever sir with me however is when they closed the show with “Muzzle” singing along with the rest of the crowd and that final bridge and closing verse really hit me that night. I thought back to myself over 20 years ago listening  to that song and being scared, depressed, uncertain and heartbroken and than here I was in 2018, 41 years old, best shape of my life, a wife and 4 kids at home, a career and a Masters Degree. I had made it, my fears didn’t come true but my dreams did. “And the world, is drawn into your hands, And the world is etched upon your heart, And the world, so hard to understand, is the world you can’t live without…” Thank you for being my best friend on many nights when I felt like I had no one to turn too, thank you for helping me become who I am today.