They say what you listened to as a teenager makes a permanent imprint on your mind. Just like a fragrance can instantly transport you back in time (Abercrombie’s Woods cologne), so can a song. The first few chords of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” immediately puts me in my middle school cafeteria, lights low, jumping around with my friends. Aerosmith’s “Crazy” transports me back to my childhood family room, watching MTV, thinking Liv Tyler was the coolest girl in the world.

As I write this, I’m grieving the sudden loss of my best friend from childhood. We discovered music together - Green Day, Weezer, Live, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, the Beatles anthologies - and I will hold on tightly to those happy memories. We had our entire lives ahead of us and nothing mattered more than good grades or whether our crush acknowledged us in the hallway between classes. We made little footballs out of hastily written notes and stayed up all night at sleepovers. All to the soundtrack of the 90s.

This collection is dedicated to Anna.