Back to “some clichés are true” as the bad news that usually is a trickle is suddenly pouring in. Of course, every day in our national disaster, but for me, also in the personal realm. The last post was about the unexpected passing of my friend Mary Goetze. And then in the next 24 hours I found out that:
1) Another good friend who was my student in 1972 (and we’re still friends!) discovered she has ovarian cancer and is going into surgery soon.
2) A teacher I taught with for 40 years has another kind of surgery scheduled and it’s dangerous.
3) An elder Orff colleague fell on the ice and broke her hip and spent six weeks in rehab while trying to handle the bad care her 90-year old spouse with Parkinson’s is getting in his Home for the Aged.
4) My daughter had a mediation session with her husband trying to sort out divorce proceedings and he told lie after lie to justify demanding outrageous sums of money from her in a settlement and refusing to help with the kids.
5) And her good friend who has been a godsend of support is moving.
Meanwhile, I saw a video of an ICE agent smashing the windshield of a 7-month pregnant woman to drag her out of her car and arrest her for deportation. Storms close to home and far away (and so many more the latter!) and I think of the last two lines of the poem I’ve been opening workshops with:
“We’ll weather the weather whatever the weather,
Whether we like it or not!”
Indeed, what other choice do we have? Well, some people think there is a choice, that I should blame all of the above on immigrants or liberals or take-your-pick and lash out with anger. But I choose instead more kindness, more generosity, more love, as my friend Mary suggested in a song she wrote. To remind us all and to honor her memory, I include it here (along with a youtube link of a choir singing it).
We dream a tomorrow with sunny days and birdsong,
Where all life can flourish in our time and beyond
We dream a tomorrow where all people are fed
And go to sleep at night with a roof overhead.
REFRAIN:
As we live, let us give, each in our own way.
As we go, let us show kindness every day.
As we thrive, let us strive to do what we can do
Hand in hand, side by side, to make tomorrow’s dreams come true
We dream a world where all people are free
To choose how they live and who they want to be.
A world with more compassion,
More generosity-- more love, more love.
We dream a tomorrow
When all violence will cease
And people round the planet
Will prosper in peace.
- Words and music by Mary Goetze
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