I loved Prince from the beginning (he was only two years older than me). But at the time of his rise to stardom, I was married to a very abusive and jealous man. So I could not follow Prince like I so wished I could, but the man I was married to could never take Prince out of my heart. I was never able to attend any of Prince's concerts, but I could sneak in his songs while listening to the radio. Once, when I was working at a convenience store, they brought in some cassettes of various artists and genres. I saw one of Prince's albums - and in my heart it was already mine. It took a few days for me to build up the courage, and I kept my eye on the disappearing album, and I was so afraid they would be gone the next time I came in to work. And then the day arrived that I made up my mind. After my shift was over, I went boldly to the display, and grabbed one of his cassettes. My heart was thumping wildly in my chest, I even looked around to see if my now-ex was in the store, or peeking in the window to spy on me (yes - that was a common occurrence). I must have been acting super suspicious to my relief. He was new, and I think it was his first shift alone. But when I went up to the counter and, trembling, laid the cassette on the counter, he was reluctant to ring it up. "Are you sure we can do this?" he asked, making me even more frightened. Had he seen my ex? I glanced around, surveying the entire store. My co-worker was eyeing me very, very unsure. "What do you mean?" I asked, almost abandoning my mission. "I mean, well, you work here," he said, almost as wildly anxious as I was, "Can you buy stuff here?" Oh Lord, I thought, was that what he was so worried about? "Yeah." I replied, reaching as confidently as I could into my purse, pulling out a credit card and panicking that for sure I'd get "caught" when the statement came in. But I had no cash. But my co-worker didn't seem convinced, even though he rang the cassette up, and took my card, and filled out the form for it (yes - we did that way back when - no scanners yet, lol). He clumsily ran it through the credit card machine, and it folded up and wrinkled. He reached for a fresh form to fill out another one. "No!" I said, losing my resolve. "This one is fine!" He jumped. I signed, grabbed the cassette, and rushed outside, not even waiting for the receipt (so much for reassuring the guy). But I was filled with joy, and stared at the cassette, unable to believe I had a part of Prince in my hands, his art, his love, his music - right there in my hands. It was mine! I can't even remember which album it was, but it was all mine. I had thrown caution to the wind, and felt a moment of bold victory. But the thing is, I didn't even own a cassette player (my life was pretty stark then). It didn't matter to me. My ex never found out, and I kept it well hidden, but never far away. Prince had emboldened me, and I eventually got a divorce, and went on with a much better life afterward. I have no memory of what happened to that cassette, but it was a big step in my life, and I'll never lose that precious memory. Thank you Prince, for touching my life in such a big way.