See You Again by Miley Cyrus

It turns out there is still one Miley Cyrus song that doesn't make my stomach turn when I hear it.  I first became aware of her when I saw her perform on an awards show and I though I wasn't overly impressed, I was intrigued and the song was different than I expected.  It didn't make me a Miley fan, but I soon met someone who was.  A couple months later, when the neighbors showed up for trick or treating, I had to ask who the girls were as I was far from up to date on the latest Disney princesses and teen pop sensations.  To my surprise, they said they were Hannah Montana (Miley's alter ego) and I was just tickled to see how Hannah Montana literally crossed the race barrier.  It was awesome and they looked great. 

I promptly downloaded the Miley Cyrus song because I wanted to be able to relate to (and impress) these kids.  Yes, I fully admit wanting to impress a bunch of preteens with my music selection.  Nick and I were invited to Gianna's birthday party in the park that spring and we felt honored to be included.  We were basically the only non-family members and it was a great party!  Tons of food (everything you would expect at a BBQ), a big cake, balloons.  We socialized with everyone and I later played some of my music for the kids and as expected, Miley Cyrus was a big hit, along with Pocketful of Sunshine by Natasha Bedingfield and Fallin' by Alicia Keys.  We returned the favor by inviting them over for a BBQ at our house for Jambalaya and what turned into a rousing game of dress-up.  To our great delight, they brought homemade collard greens, complete with a large hamhock.  It was delicious!  We enjoyed getting to know the neighbors, teaching them that not all dogs are mean (before they met us, we overheard them call Jack "the GD dog from Full House!"), repairing or replacing basketballs as needed.  They loaned us tools and warned us when the street cleaners were coming and we had forgotten to move our car.  It really made the experience of living in West Oakland a little better and certainly memorable.  I wonder what they are up to now?