Erin Nonfiction

            I think most people who know me today know how passionate I am about my favorite music and my favorite artists. I’m the person who sets an alarm to wake up at 2am for a song release, or to watch a performance in a different time zone on the other side of the world; I know the all words to a new song about an hour after it comes out; I’ve spent an inordinate amount of money on merchandise and concert tickets (multiple times). But I wasn’t always this person.              I still vividly remember the first time I woke up in the middle of the night for a music release. It was November 12, 2015 and One Direction’s fifth studio album Made In The A.M. was set to release at midnight. I will never forget the anticipation I felt as I eagerly went to bed at 9pm, setting my alarm for 11:55, hoping to get a decent amount of sleep by getting a few hours of sleep before ...

            I love Meadowbrook Park. I’ve been going there for so long that the memories are all blurred together. Places are like songs in that they hold memories, particularly the first experience you have associated with that place and song. Where were you, how old were you, what was your life like at this time? Places and songs can transport you to a completely different part of your life, especially if you haven’t revisited them recently. However, if you visit a place or listen to a song enough times, eventually you lose that first specific memory, and it just becomes a feeling of home, comfort, and familiarity. That is what Meadowbrook is for me. I don’t remember my first time there, but I have eras of memories attached to the place.             Along the outside of the playground is a pathway made of concrete tiles with little handprints on them. I have no idea how they decid...