ABOUT "SONG FOR MY FATHER"

How this song came to be:

The first two lines of this song actually came to me in a dream. In the dream, I was the opening act for Bob Dylan (!!), and I was on stage singing one of his songs.  He was watching me.  There were problems with the sound system, so I wasn't being heard, but I sang these lines:

On and on, on and on
Best before the day is done.

Those words and the melody (which is the exact melody in the song now)  stayed with me after I woke up, and for days afterward.  I kept singing the little tune in my head, and finally wrote it down for later use.  Forgot about it.

A few months later, when I got word that my father was ill with malignant melanoma,  I took out my notebook where I had jotted down the Bob Dylan dream song, changed the word "best" to "rest", and the verses followed smoothly after that.   It was a quick birth.

But I couldn't finish the song.  I knew it wasn't finished, but I couldn't see how to end it.   It needed a bridge, and one more verse. Then I went home to Baltimore, where I had the great privilege of being with Dad as he lay dying.  I played the song for him, in its unfinished form.  He smiled from his bed as I played and sang.  I did not see the smile, as I was on the wrong side of the bed to see it, but my sisters told me it was there.  So I played it for him again, and again, and again.  And after he died, I finished it.

And that is how the song was born.

May we all be blessed with a death, and a life,  as graceful and dignified as his.

peace to all.

WHAT THIS BLOG IS NOT ABOUT

This blog is not about being a full-time mom, being an older mom, being an adoptive mom, or a mom with dogs or a mom who hates housekeeping.  You won't find any recipes here, or any travel tips or advice about taking care of aging parents.  And you most certainly will not get any fashion advice!

( One of the things I know least about in this world is how to dress. I blame it on having to wear a uniform for six years.  Every day, the same thing, only in different sizes.  It was really pretty handy: wake up, throw on a clean uniform, and out you go into your little world, where everyone else wears the same thing as you.)

Anyway, getting back to the point, you probably won't learn anything at all here on this blog.  And maybe that'll be the beauty of it.    I can hardly wait to find out...

VIRGIN BLOGGER

I am a virgin blogger.  I have never even seen a blog, much less written one.  I suppose it's a bit like writing a song without ever having heard one, which I don't even know is possible. To be honest, I am not all that sure why I am doing this.  All I can say in my own defense is that it seemed like a good idea at the time I thought it.  It seemed like a good way to get out of my own head, have some fun and to answer some questions that I am often asked about my music.

I'll start by choosing some of my songs and explaining how they came to be.  If anyone out there has questions about any of my songs, about me, or about anything at all, go for it.

Let the games begin.

My virgin bloggedness has hereby ended.