Below is my open letter to the Indigo Girls regarding their upcoming April concert at Davidson College. The above photo was taken in 1991, the year Melanie and I saw them in concert at Ovens Auditorium in Charlotte, North Carolina. I am sure many readers can speculate as to why the photo is cut out the way it is….Sigh. A high school boy. But, I will focus on the amazing memories from that concert that came flooding back this week, 33 years later.

Dear Emily and Amy,

I feel like we should be on a first name basis, since I have been singing along to your songs since I was a teenager. Y’all were such an important part of my teenage years.

This week I received an email from my daughter’s college about your upcoming documentary screening and concert. I immediately texted my daughter who is a freshman at Davidson to say she should definitely attend. She has heard the story of when Mel and I saw them in concert in high school many times over the years. I thought the concert was just for faculty/staff/students, but my girl said it was open to the public and that I should go.

I immediately called Mel, and per usual, she did not pick up the phone. Next, I did what I had to do to get her to call me back… I said it was an emergency. During our phone call, we reminisced about that 1991 concert. You see, that concert was a pivotal memory for both of us. Mel had just gotten her driver’s license and a brand new car. She offered to drive us to the concert and her dad would buy the tickets. Papa Gary paid for almost everything for me, and I wish I had been more grateful at the time. Knowing our parents would say HELL NO to a brand new driver who had only driven in rural North Carolina making a road trip to downtown Charlotte, we did what we usually did. I said I was at Suellen’s house. Our friend Shelley, who also came along, said she was at Angie’s house. Youngsters, this is what you did back in the late 80s and early 90s when there were no cell phones that could track your every move. Mel’s parents knew and only said to be safe and no drugs or drinking (they were the cool, trusting parents).

We made it safely to Ovens Auditorium and sang arm in arm together to every single song. We were surrounded by openly gay women for the first time in our lives. Mel described it as feeling like love was everywhere in that auditorium. I felt the same way. It was an unforgettable experience. I used the last $20 I had to my name to buy a concert t shirt, and we headed back home to Kernersville still singing those songs on the cassette player.

I knew I was in trouble when I got home because my mom was sitting in the dining room angrily tapping her cigarette on her ashtray. When I came inside, she asked where I had been and not to say Suellen’s because she knew that was a lie. I explained that Mel drove us to the Indigo Girls concert in Charlotte, and we lied because we knew she would say no to the road trip (note: as the parent of 2 adult children, I would have also most definitely said no). She explained I was grounded for one week for lying, and me always wanting to have the last word, said “that’s fine because it was the best concert of my life.” That got me an additional week of grounding. And a note from my husband… I called it the best concert of my life at age 18. But, fast forward 33 years later, and it is STILL in the top 5.

Okay Emily and Amy, if you are still reading, Melanie and I have a song request for that April Davidson concert. Our favorite song from your 1989 album was Love’s Recovery.

I don’t think we ever sang the entire song without tears in that 1991 Acura Integra. So, if you would grant these two friends this song request, we would be eternally grateful. My daughter will be with us at the concert. I am sure we will embarrass her with our sing alongs (I sing Emily and Mel sings Amy) but it will be worth the drive and new memories.

• lifeinmiddleage