5 on Friday - Set 175

Travis at Trav's Thoughts invites everyone to lay down a short set of music that takes their fancies for his 5 on Friday meme.

As you read this, I'll be in Michigan to attend my grandmother's funeral.

Obituary for Viola Phillips

She was my last remaining grandparent. For someone nearing 50, it's not very common to have living grandparents. I've been very blessed with two grandmothers who lived into their early 90s.

As we celebrate my grandmother's life and enjoy the family reunion that always coincides with the sadness of saying goodbye, here are five tunes inspired by this week's farewell.

1 - St. Anne's Reel - Don Messer

My grandpa (Viola's husband) was a fiddle player who kept many a house party jumping. This was one of their favorite tunes.

2 - Linger Awhile - Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra

This tune debuted the same year my grandmother did--in 1923.

3 - Perfidia - Xavier Cugat and his Waldorf Astoria Orchestra

This recording charted in 1941, the year my grandma became a mother with her first-born--my dad Norman.

4 - When You're Hot, You're Hot - Jerry Reed

My family moved from Michigan to Nova Scotia on Canada's east coast in 1971, when this song was a chart-topper. There was a big surprise going-away party for us, held at Grandma and Grandpa Phillips' house, with a barbeque in their big backyard. I remember one of the men singing this song at one point.

5 - Suddenly I See - KT Tunstall

This song charted in 2007, the year my grandma hopped in a van with my aunt and my cousins to drive here from Michigan to Nova Scotia to be with her son, my dad, in his final days.