My father turned 19 at Camp Pendleton, in 1975. Someone gave him a mandolin, and I remember growing up to the theme from Romeo and Juliet (the original Franco Zefferelli film, not the Claire Danes/Leo DiCaprio remake). And a lot of the theme from Love Story (novel by Erich Segal, which I accidentally read in 3rd grade, movie with Ali McGraw and Ryan O’Neal). Oh, and Silent Night around the holidays. If only he had learned my favorite Vivaldi Concerto.

It still makes me cry.