I bought Little Earthquakes with my first paycheck, and the next day my mother and father got into a huge fight and my dad got in his car and left. A few hours later when I left for work he still wasn't home. I kept listening to Winter over and over because it embodied everything that I wanted my mother to hear. I wanted her to hear those words and be okay again. It was Winter that really got me through that day. I didn't know where my dad was, and I didn't know when he was coming back. I felt like my entire life at home was hanging from a very small, very unstable thread. Later that night my called me at work to tell me that my father was on his way home, he had driven to Dallas (400 miles away). Without the words to that song I don't think I would have been able to deal with those few hours.

This is the big one. My senior year of highschool I came out of the closet, and well, in Conroe, Texas that sort of thing usually doesn't go well. That year was rough, and after graduation things didn't get any better. I spent a majority of those few months in tears. Every time I would drive into town I would pass something and start thinking about what had happened in that spot. I was starting to feel trapped in this town. One night I was sitting on the floor of my apartment falling apart. I didn't know if I even wanted to wake up the next morning. I just couldn't face being here anymore. I popped in Under the Pink and ended up putting Cloud on my Tongue on repeat. After 2 listens I was inspired. I stopped crying, took out a pen and started writing. Page after page all my frustrations poured out onto the page and when I was done I felt more whole. For the first time in months I finally felt like a whole person again. I felt like I had broken out of the mold that others had forced me into. After that night I wasn't afraid of waking up anymore.