When I think about the music I used to listen to growing up, I can only vividly remember Taylor Swift’s music following me through every stage of life. I am very well known throughout my family for always singing Teardrops On My Guitar when I was only three years old. In fact, some of my family members still joke about it to this day. I remember rewatching the You Belong With Me and Love Story music videos constantly on my mother’s iPhone. Up next came my obsession with the song Mean, and thankfully my mom let me play it over and over, or else my 8-year-old self would have lost it. Once Red dropped, my love for Taylor’s music became a lot more intense now that I was old enough to appreciate her lyricism. The best part is that her next album, 1989, had an even bigger effect. I was infatuated. Her lyrics spoke to me instead of just having a good melody. For this, I knew that Taylor was one of my idols, and rightly so. At this point, there is enough of Taylor’s music for my mom and me to go on 3-hour road trips and only listen to her, which makes our road trips so enjoyable. As time progressed, Taylor Swift only got better, and my adoration for her grew. Fast forward to the present day, I am still in love with her debut era, while I am also in love with her Midnights era and everything that comes in between. One thing that I have realized though, is that the real reason I am so in love with Taylor Swift is solely because of my mom.
Just as I’ve been a huge fan of Taylor Swift’s work throughout the years, my mom has been there right by me in the same boat. She instilled Taylor into my head because of how much she would listen to it, and that is the way it always was. She always knew when a new album was about to drop, and made sure to play it with me in the car the following morning while she drove me to school. As I mentioned, pretty much any given time that we were in the car together, especially road trips, consisted of Taylor Swift. We would sit there and listen to the lyrics when they applied to a life event, whether it be breakups or just life events in general. She always expressed how much she would give to go see her in concert, but only if I was there with her. We would watch her concerts from the tours we did not attend, and looked forward to the day we would finally get to see her in concert. I will admit, I was a bit scared Taylor wouldn’t tour anymore which would rob my mom and me of something that was number one on our bucket list. Luckily, my mom and I will now be going to see her live in concert on April 22, 2023, after an amazing 13 eras.
I can’t think of a better person to experience this concert with. I will be getting to see my idol live, and so will my mom. We get to listen to her entire discography while dancing, laughing, and singing the same way we would in the car. I begin to cry when seeing snippets of the tour on my social media, not because I am excited to see her (still very true), but because of who I will be attending it with. Life has been a journey, but if there have been any constants for the both of us, it is each other and our connection to Taylor Swift.
So, I would like to thank my mother for making me a swiftie, and for being a fellow swiftie too. While the Eras Tour represents all of Taylor’s eras in life, I feel as though it also represents the eras of my mom and me. She has been my best friend since day one. We have grown together and have built a strong relationship throughout our twenty years together. Each Taylor era unlocks certain time periods of my life where my mom and I were different from who we are today. Going through different things, facing different battles, and navigating life with what we both had to deal with at the moment. We have grown so much, and each era represents a different stage of our journey as mother and daughter. This concert is definitely a full-circle moment for us, and I am so excited to go and make amazing memories by her side. The day we have looked forward to for so long has finally arrived!