… that moment you’re so proud of yourself when “that one song from your past” cues up as your driving, only this time it doesn’t make you cry.

God has been so good to me in all the ways He’s helped me find closure and peace with the many black roses from my past … not the LEAST of which was myself! Trust me when I say that I wasn’t always so upbeat, Light-filled, “Divinely punctuated“, and optimistic. If you’ve read any of the chapters from the beginning of this Diary, you know exactly what I’m talking about. There was a very dark time in my life when I was the blackest rose of them all. Such is life, then we live, we learn, and move on.

Trapt is one of my all-time favorite bands by the way, and Black Rose one of the songs of my life. If you’ve never heard it before, give it a listen. IT’S SO PRETTY! But hey, if you do, I want you to tell me something, PLEASE! Can you say that when you get to the guitar solo at “3:23” it doesn’t send chills up your spine or make you cry?

I CANNOT!

It’s actually one of the most beloved guitar solos I’ve ever heard and never too far from my heart, no matter my mood. Truth being told, there have been times when I’ve probably replayed it 50 times in a row just so I could emotionally cut myself and make myself cry when I couldn’t. Meanwhile, thank you God for the roses of my life … even the black ones.

BLACK ROSE

I saw you in the garden – I wanted you so much. I really thought that you were different, oh I couldn’t get enough. I tried to save you from yourself – I felt every high and low. But the lows have drowned the highs away, now there’s no where else to go. Black rose your thorns are cutting into me for the last time. Black rose I watched your petals wilt away. I couldn’t bring you back to life! You were always where The Sun could never go. I never wanted you to have to be alone. But I couldn’t find a way to help you grow … Black Rose. You never tell me how you feel, and your moods they always change. I really tried to make it real, but you never had the faith. I tried to give you something good to take the pain away. I tried to make you understand – you don’t have to be this way … {Trapt}