Drove to the beach last week and asked my 13-year-old niece, Sarah, to plug her iPod into our car stereo. (I like hearing other people’s music.) After the initial Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus, thanks to my crew in the back of the van, she pulled up: We are the World 25. The original must stand as one of my favorite pieces of music of all times, so when she chose it, I was already moved she’d want to play it for me. Then I calculated a bit: 25 years ago–in 1985–well, I would have turned 13.

That’s when I reached for the Kleenex.