Dear friends,
I can’t carry a tune to save my life, but I love music! I especially love listening to it in the most unexpected of places – walking in my neighborhood and chancing upon a musician playing tango music on his accordion or listening to my grandson practice Debussy’s “Clair de lune on the piano or watching young teens breaking out spontaneously in dance to their own music. Music is one of those forms of art that can transport me to another place, another time, and I find it at turns, exhilarating, calming, and healing.
My sons are amazed that I actually studied Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony for an entire semester when I was in college, even though I had no plans to major in music. Beethoven was deaf when he composed this masterpiece, and I remember even as a young college student, how awed I was that he could bring to life this music that spoke to me of resilience, of redemption. Beethoven could have composed it as an elegy on the loss of his hearing and other losses, but he chose not to do that. Instead, we have a gift of his music that celebrates among other things, man’s ability to transcend suffering and loss. He chose Friedrich Schiller’s poem, “Ode to Joy”, as the chorale centerpiece of the fourth movement. Remarkably, a deaf Beethoven conducted the first performance of this symphony.
Interestingly, I think of aging in the same way – as a celebration of decades of living, sustaining our lives and those of others given to our care in the face of whatever challenges Life dishes out, and choosing how we honor moments of great joy, and yes, loss. Quite by chance, I happen upon a video of a flash mob performance of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, performed in the Spanish City of Sabadell in 2012. I especially loved watching the audience – children, families, people in walkers, young couples simply being present in the moment. Enjoy!
Finally, we turn to another Amazing Care Network member, Kristine Farrell, who describes eloquently a care-giving journey. You can read her story here
With warm wishes,
Cora
