This Old Guitar

By K.J. Cardinal

Even though I have a horrible singing voice and I am just a novice on the guitar, I feel like music is a big part of my life.

Growing up, my dad played in a 60s cover band, called The Footsteps (soon to be featured in The Cardinal Blog), and he always entertains us on his guitar. My love for music really came directly from him. For proof, just look at my iPod and you'll see artists such as Jim Croce, Barry McGuire, CSN&Y and John Denver...I could go on and on.

Anyway, with his birthday on Wednesday (January 30), I wanted to get him something to celebrate this love affair with music that he's passed down to me and really to the rest of our family. As I mentioned in a previous post, his most prized possession is his guitar "Candy." So, I took a photo of his guitar and used a photo that's been featured in The Cardinal Vault to make up this 20" x 30" poster that I framed.


No, I didn't write that "This Old Guitar" poem or anything, it's actually the opening verse of a John Denver song by the same title (Click here to listen). It's one of my Dad's all-time favorite songs and actually the first song he ever played for my Mom on his guitar...which just happened to be his guitar, Candy.

I couldn't be happier with how it came out and my Dad was pretty much speechless when he saw it. I was actually expecting him to get a little teary eyed, but he was just more amazed than anything.

Anyway, Happy (early) Birthday Dad and thanks for making so many great memories for us with your music.