The first time I heard “A Lot’s Gonna Change,” we were driving home from a midnight visit to Ocean City. The sun rising over the beach had transitioned into the sun rising behind the forest, had transitioned into the sun rising over the corn fields. I remember you turning the volume up loud enough that it felt like I was held on all sides by the music, her voice soothed me as the piano and drums sent me into the new morning. You held my hand while I drove, and I felt the strings soaring into my heart. “A lot’s gonna change in your lifetime,” she sang, and I should’ve been scared, I should’ve been terrified of things changing, but I’d never felt safer. You were holding my hand, and we were silent, and we passed a herd of deer grazing in the soft morning light. “Born in a century, lost to memory / falling trees, get off your knees / no one can keep you down.” I knew you would be beside me forever. A lot could change, and a lot would change, and I was so excited, and I was so at peace. When I listen now, I’m struck by a different kind of peace. Natalie sings to me that “you’ll get by, ‘cause you’ve got what it takes,” and I know she’s right. You’ve changed, we both have, I hope we continue changing together.

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