Hello everyone! It's been a long time since I've been here for various reasons, mainly because my weekends are packed with work with the orchestra and I always schedule my posts. But December has arrived in the strangest way, with a political landscape that has even affected our end-of-year concert season to the point that I can sit down and write relaxed at home (while we await the worst-case scenario outside)... Yes, I've brought some old photos 😅 I promised myself that Hive would never see them, but I really liked one of the topics Dr. @galenkp suggested, and my relics from the year 2000 are peacefully resting in my room at my parents' house in another city, so to complement my idea I had to bring these pictures from when I was thin and sick in 2019.
I felt a little sad writing these words. I focused on my memories of the year 2000 because I don't want to have unrealistic expectations about my old age, and because I don't really care if I'm remembered after I die. I just know I want to leave a good impression on the world and on the people who know me. But this momentary sadness came from realizing that almost the entire year of 2000 was filled with unpleasant moments that I remember vividly, even though I was only 12 years old. Perhaps it's because I was starting adolescence, and at the same time, my grandmother died. My elementary school "friends" abandoned me in middle school, and I generally dreamed of many things I couldn't do because I was practically a child, and my parents made all my decisions. Almost everything about that year went wrong 🤣 which makes me appreciate Shakira even more, and explains why, after all this time, I still love her silently, even though I'm a married man 😅
In 2000, my mom had a concert tour in Táchira State, and since my dad had a weekend of concerts in my hometown of Maracay, my brother and I went on that trip with my mom. I actually remember it was Carnival, and before we boarded the bus, a girl from high school threw water on me from a large bucket from her window on a high floor. I had to dry off in the wind and travel uncomfortably for the next 12 hours... Yes, that's how bad my year 2000 was. The point is that it was the first and only time so far that I've been to that part of my country, and something beautiful happened there that truly filled my soul. My mom gave me money so I could buy myself snacks or pay for an amusement park that was near the place where she would be rehearsing, since someone would be in charge of taking all the children, and yes, I went to the park and saw my little brother playing, but I saved the money, and on that same trip, in San Cristóbal, I bought Shakira's album Dónde Están los Ladrones, my first album of what would become a great collection in the future.
The bad thing is that I had nowhere to listen to it 😅 but because of my persistence, I remember that Dad bought a stereo for Christmas in 2000, many months later, and I personally received Britney Spears' album *Oops!...I Did It Again* and Christina Aguilera's *Mi Reflejo* as gifts. To this day, these remain my three favorite albums, and the first ones I ever got. That simple gesture brightened my life more than you can imagine. I think even my parents thought it was silly, but years go by, I still have them, I still listen to that music, and it still brightens my life; that's when you realize it wasn't just any old thing. Shakira managed to brighten up an entire year of my teenage years, and I hadn't realized it until today when I'm writing this post, and believe me, I mention her on Hive at least once every two weeks, hahaha. Below is a picture of the little sound system that gave me the best teenage years of my life, which came into my life on December 25, 2000. I didn't need friends, because I always had music ❤️ Los invito a leer este post d emi colección completa: [My Immaculate Collection of Shakira!](https://peakd.com/hive-180658/@jesuslnrs/my-immaculate-collection-of-shakira-eng-esp-mi-coleccion-inmaculada-de-shakira).
