The Shins, Liberty Hall, Lawrence, May 8th, 2005

My uncle Dennis died last winter, shortly after I was diagnosed with the same disease that afflicts his son. I had no relationship with Dennis or his wife and kids, so his death was sad only in a general sense. I went back home for the rosary and the funeral; although his family lives in Philadelphia, he was buried just west of Wichita.

My mother had bought a new car earlier that season. I had seen it the first time when she drove me to my fistula surgery; I drove it for the first time when she accompanied me to my colonoscopy. My mom relaxed in the passenger's seat as I drove to the rosary the night before Dennis' funeral.

This was the first car my mother owned that had a CD player, and I put it The Shins' first album, Oh Inverted World. The CD lasted exactly as long as the drive, and it played through once more on the return trip.

That was the first time I realized why I liked The Shins as much as I did. That record was as appropriate for that night as it is for a summer road trip - it can make you feel happy and sad all at once, like looking at a yearbook.

Tonight, in live at Liberty Hall, it was no different than chauffeuring my mother down dark county roads. The Shins ended their set with "Kissing the Lipless", a song that begins with six claps and a "Whoo!" - almost enough to make you forget the song's message:

It's hard to leave all these moments behind.