Growing up, my mom commonly celebrated the day’s end by putting my sister and me to bed, putting on Willie Nelson’s “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain,” and having a beer. My sister and I loved to hear that song. We affectionately referred to it as “Blue Eyes” and sometimes we’d jump on our beds and dance while my mom relaxed downstairs. We shared a bedroom back then.

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This is the record player that turned that Willie Nelson/Red Headed Stranger record. Mom was cleaning out the storage closest recently and she was going to get rid of it. I’ve been collecting records for over a decade now, and that collection started with a donation from my parents.

It’s pretty exciting. I hope to have it home soon. It’s a Realistic LAB-400. After some research, it seems to be a pretty high quality item. I was casually looking for an upgrade to my current setup. I’m excited to get it in hand — I’ve already gotten a preamp so it’ll play on my powered speakers. The first song I play will be “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain.”