This 1989 first love diary entry takes us back to a moment when a song, a feeling, and everything in between collided.

Sometimes a song doesn’t just play in the background…
it becomes part of a memory.

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March 23, 1989

Dear Diary,

Today was the BEST day.

Mom took me to Strawberries Records & Tapes after school. I had been waiting for Madonna’s Like a Prayer album to come out, and it finally did.

I had saved enough money to get the tape, my favorite Bop magazine, and a Sweet Valley High book. I begged Mom to take me as soon as I got home from school.

She did.

As soon as we got back, I opened the cassette and put it into my jambox.

I glanced around at the posters on my wall—Madonna, a few of my favorites from Bop magazine, and even some Block 213 ones—making sure they were all ready for the best concert ever

As I suspected, I loved every single song on the album. I’ve already started learning all the words.

But one song caught me in a way I didn’t expect.

Cherish.

It’s such a happy, upbeat song, and for some reason… it made me think of Josh.

Josh is in town. I haven’t seen him yet, though.

I don’t even know if I will.

Today I was in my room singing along to Cherish like I always do, using my hairbrush as a microphone and pretending the posters on my wall were my audience as usual.

I didn’t even think about who might be outside my door.

I had my door shut.

At least… I thought I did.

At some point, I noticed it was cracked open, and I have no idea when that happened.

After the song ended, I walked over and peeked out into the hallway.

I heard voices coming from Mitchell’s room.

One of them sounded like Josh.

What if he heard me singing?

Oh my gosh. I would be so embarrassed.

Then Mitchell’s door opened.

And there he was.

Josh.

He smiled at me.

Then he walked over, hugged me, and kissed my cheek.

“Hey, Emma,” he said.

I could feel my cheeks getting hot.

He’s done that before…

But this time, it felt different.

I can’t really explain it.

But I was glad he did it.

Mitchell just rolled his eyes and told me to turn the music down a notch.

Uh oh.

Did that mean they heard me?

Josh smiled a little and said, “It’s good to see you, Emma.”

Then he followed Mitchell down the hallway.

I watched him walk away.

I don’t know why, but something felt different about him.

Not bad… just different.

But I was still really happy he hugged me.

And kissed my cheek.

And I couldn’t stop thinking about it after.

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View Emma’s Playlist Blog Here

Read About Unfinished Melody Here

Listen to the song that inspired the diary entry here: Cherish – Madonna from the Like A Prayer Album