How the odd after-market CD player in my mom’s old car helped me deal with the grief of losing her — and why I can’t sell it now (even though I should)

A car's CD player and burned CDs, on a hot day.

If someone tells you a song is important to them, you should listen to it carefully. Because afterwards, you'll know them better. If they share a song with you, treat it with the kind of care and respect you'd give to a treasured photo or keepsake. It's a window into their very private world. And it is all we really have, in the end.

I knew the songs that were truly important to my mom: Eric Clapton (well, Derek and the Dominos) and Layla; Cream's Strange Brew; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's Sanibel (which I can never ever listen to without crying, ever again); Hendrix's Are You Experienced?; Jethro Tull's Aqualung and so many more that were on heavy rotation in the car, whenever she'd drive me to ballet class as a child.