Around a year ago, my parents decided to build a new house and sell the home I grew up in. At the time I didn’t think too much about it. I was happy for them to get the house they always wanted.Last weekend, I was in Houston visiting them and my brother who was on leave from the Navy and we went by the old house to say goodbye.

I can’t remember the last time just the four of us were together. After taking a final family picture in front of the house, we went inside. As I walked into the living room, I reached up and touched the doorway which was once littered with yellow sticky notes marking my growth as a child. The once overflowing with trinkets living room was barren. The reality of the situation began to sit in and suddenly the ghosts of my childhood began materializing before my eyes. Countless Christmas mornings sneaking downstairs before dawn, struggling to keep my burning eyes open trying one more time to finish Super Mario Brothers, my brother and I glued the TV cheering wildly for “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan to break out the two-by-four…

One image was so real that I paused for a moment thinking I had somehow been transported back in time. I entered my father’s empty bedroom and suddenly I could see the furniture. I was 11 again. I could feel the curious innocence of youth returning in my heart as I walked towards the closet.

As I raised my hand to open the door, I trembled with excitement. The door opened and there it was, a dusty old trapezoidal box holding a short-scale, Global brand acoustic guitar. A year of excitement followed as I listened to my Kiss tapes and plucked the melodies out on the low E string. I didn’t even know how to tune! After a substantial amount of pestering, my parents purchased me my first electric the following Christmas.

As bad of a guitar as it was, I didn’t know any better and loved it thoroughly until I got my first real acoustic (a Yamaha) at 18. Boy was I missing out!

Today, even the cheapest guitars are constructed way better than the budget atrocities of those times. So parents, do your child a big favor and buy a cheap guitar to keep around the house. You will be exposing your child to an incredible world of music. Developing a passionate interest in a constructive skill early on will be extremely beneficial later in life.