It all began back in the summer of 1982, when I was away at summer camp. I was eleven and very advanced physically for my age, so they put me in the cabin with the 13 & 14 year old girls up on the hill, away from the younger campers, but right next to the 13 & 14 year old boys cabin. In that cabin was a ultra cool surfer kid named Paul, who had a mega boombox that he took everywhere. On this radio, played "Blizzard Of Ozz" by Ozzy Osbourne, just about nonstop for the 3 week session. I think it must have been the only cassette tape he had with him, but needless to say, it grew on me quickly. I had never heard anything like it and had no idea who this Ozzy person was. All I knew is that after I left camp that year, I couldn't get the music out of my head and made my Mom take me down to find the cassette in our local record store.

Imagine my surprise when I took a look at the cover for the very first time. I was shocked to say the very least. I quickly wore that tape out and had to go back and buy the album along with his new release, "Diary of a Madman". Those two albums I owe my life and my sanity to, without a doubt. I don't think I could have ever survived my teens without them.

Let me explain: I once was a painfully shy and quiet child who grew up in a very small town, with little change or turmoil. That all changed on Christmas Eve 1981. My father was a lineman for Florida Power & Light and got called in unexpectedly to relieve a crew that was trying to restore power to a neighboring town. Things happened and he was accidentally electrocuted with a major power line that should have been "dead". They say he never felt a thing, but I still have my doubts. Christmas has never been the same since. My mom didn't take this too well, as one might expect. She decided to move us away from there a year later, to a much bigger city. So in the span of one year I had gone from being a happy shy kid with two loving parents, to a scared freak of a girl in a new town with no friends and no parents to speak of, since Mom had fallen into a deep alcoholic depression that lasted nearly 2 years. My life and my world had been turned upside down and flipped inside out and I needed something to ground myself with.

That's when Ozzy's music entered my life and changed it forever. His music gave me a place to escape to. I'd sit in my room and put on my headphones and get lost in his musical web. I thought many times I was losing my mind. I wanted desperately to run away, but had no where to run to. I just wanted things to go back to the way they were, back to when I felt safe and loved. I just wanted normalcy. Remember, I wasn't even a teenager yet.

I have been through enough psych classes to know I used Ozzy to fill the void left by both my parents when my father died. Many might argue that this was unhealthy for my mental well being, but for me, it was the only ounce of sanity I had in my new f***ed up reality. He was my new hero, my substitute father figure, my knight in shining armor. His music gave me strength, it gave me understanding and helped me get in touch with the rage I didn't know I had. "You Can't Kill Rock n Roll" was my anthem for a long time. It helped me build emotional walls to shield myself from further pain. "Goodbye to Romance" will always remind me of losing my father. I still tear up to this very day whenever I hear that song, especially live and "Diary of a Madman" will always remind me of the mental hell I was going through at the time. It was reassuring to know I wasn't the only one who felt like that at times, Ozzy understood, or at least I felt like he did through his lyrics. Ozzy's music became sacred to me and still is to this day. He will always hold a special place in my heart and in my soul. He was there when I needed someone the most. He has never let me down.