Ozzy and my Youth....

So I am about 12 years old and my older sister buys me a 45 record for my birthday. Yes, remember those little records with one song on each side? Anyways, it was Ozzy, "Flying High Again"

Man, I played the shit out of that little record. Ozzy grew on me.... I loved the guitar and drums pulsating in my ears... I began to embrace the rebellious part of my soul that I had suppressed for a long time.

The following year I began Jr. High School and truly became a rebel. I let my hair grow long, started smoking pot and listening to Heavy Metal exclusively. One night Ozzy came to town. He was playing at the Sports Arena. My buddy and I purchased tickets and were determined to go! Of course our parents laughed when we said that we wanted to go...

So, we compromised with our parents and snuck out of our houses and walked down the storm drain to Mission Valley and then hiked another 5 miles to the Sports Arena on back roads. When we arrived at the Sports Arena, the parking lot was packed and the sweet smell of reefer permeated like a euphoric cloud over the large crowd of long haired, leather wearing head banger loyalists.

We were young but we fit right in. We got nice and high in that parking lot and strode into the concert.... We saw some of our friends from school with their older brothers or sisters. We were content in the fact that we were true hard core fans and had come on our own walking the whole way.

The concert started and we were transported into a new realm of happiness as our heads bounced back and forth to the steady bass of Ozzy and the heavy metal vibe around us. We were true head bangers now and we knew it. We looked at each other as we rocked our heads to the drums and we did not have to speak a word to know what we were thinking... just a smile was all we needed.

We rocked hard that night and we grew up even faster..... I'm not sure if my innocence had been lost before this point... but it definitely faded away after that night.

We had a long walk home that night after the concert. But... the walk home was like a dream....The moon was full and the sky was clear and perfect. We could have been flying for all we knew. Maybe the night was being true to Ozzy's words, "Flying High Again."

We had come and we had conquered...

Life is full of journeys. Perhaps my journeys started earlier than most people's....

I don't regret them. I embrace them. In fact, if my son or daughter ever comes to me one day and wants to see Ozzy, I will definitely say.............

OH HELL NO!!!!!!!!!!