You know I mention my family from time to time (especially my husband, Sir Beads) but it occurs to me that in the 3 years I’ve been blogging, I’ve seldom featured my kids.
There’s a reason for this. You see, I’m very proud of my two daughters and I’ve been afraid that once I got started, I’d never shut up! I wanted to spare you that. LOL
But, I did write a post (quite a while ago) on my oldest daughter (found here) so it’s only fair that I spotlight the younger one, today. When you consider that I’ve written close to 700 posts, I think my “proud momma” percentage is pretty reasonable. 😉
My younger girl LOVES music. She studied the flute during her school years. When she plays the “Waltz of the Flowers”, or “Dance of the Blessed Spirits”, I never cease to be amazed at how beautiful a flute can sound.
These days, however, she’s having fun playing the drums!
She’s in a band with 3 of her friends and they usually have a monthly gig in a local pub.
Sir Beads and I try to make it to most of their performances. We enjoy their music – a blend of folk and rock – and although we are often the oldest in attendance, they make us feel very welcome. 🙂
The band played again last week and for that show, there was a special treat awaiting our daughter. Her uncle (Sir Beads’ brother) and aunt had driven 750 miles to surprise her! Their plan was to get here shortly before the performance and then to be just casually sitting in the audience. 😉
So, on the night of the gig, we smuggled them into the venue before the band arrived. We had them sit with their backs to the door so that our daughter wouldn’t notice them when she entered . . .
She arrived, arms full of drums, and saw nothing at first. After a few minutes, she spotted Sir Beads and me. She began to wave at us, then suddenly her face went from big grin to loud gasp as she discovered her aunt and uncle at our table. It was a wonderful evening for all of us – a memory to cherish for sure.
Seeing Elton was an emotional experience, the depth of which caught me completely by surprise.
Sure, I’ve been a fan and admire his charitable work, but on the drive to the concert, my only thoughts were that it would be a night of fun. I wasn’t expecting anything more.
The following day, I tried to explain to my daughter how deeply moved I was by the show, the music, and especially by Elton, himself. After listening to my attempt to put my feelings into words, her reply summed it up very well: “Mom, you were touched by his sincerity”.
It was true. This man is a mega star. After such an incredibly successful career, he could be jaded, bored, selfish, with an attitude of ‘just do the minimum, get off the stage, and count the money’. I’m here to tell you… that is NOT Sir Elton.
He was on the stage for THREE hours STRAIGHT. No breaks! Performing every number. After a couple of hours he gave the band a break but HE stayed and played alone while they were gone! He continually jumped off his bench after each song and ran to every corner of the stage and bowed and waved with animated appreciation for the fans. He played countless hits and each one with every bit of his power. No holding back, no “phoning it in”. It was amazing. He will be 64 this month, but his performance surely belied that fact. I realized we were witnessing something very special. He is at a place in his life where he is still in his prime musically, but has arrived at a point of peace with himself.
His conversations with the audience were so sweet. He had a little gesture – an unconscious way of softly brushing his hand against the top of the piano as he was speaking – giving the sense that the words were coming directly from his heart. He said that the last year has been his best musically. He introduced Leon Russell explaining that this was the man that he (Elton) had “wanted to sing like.. to play piano like…” It was very touching to see the pride and joy on Elton’s face as his old hero came on stage.
Towards the latter part of the show, I lost it when he sang, “Candle in the Wind”. Why? I’ve asked myself the same question. It isn’t even a favorite of mine, though I do like it. He sang it as if it were the first time – with his whole effort. It was incredibly beautiful. I suddenly thought how extraordinary it was to be in the same room with him as he sang this song, a song that the whole world could recognize and associate with a memory in their own lives. Tears were steaming down my face. To be honest, they are now as I write about it.
This is turning into a novel. I should add that when we first arrived, we decided to have a pre-show drink at the Elton John Premium Lounge. 😉
We figured it would be a good photo op for the memory book.
I liked the table decorations – a champagne glass with a tea light nestled amongst colored glass stones.
We only had the cell phone for pix. The tickets specified “no recording or cameras with extra lenses”. Imagine our surprise when they seemed to have been smuggled in all around us!
Our seats in the arena were good! We were above the stage, with a wonderful ¾ angle to see Elton and also his hands on the piano keys. In addition, the big screen was nearby, so we had great close-ups whenever we could pry our eyes from the stage.
I’ll end with a youtube clip from the show. In it, Elton has come back to the stage for an encore. You may want to skip the first few minutes in which he is signing autographs. If you move the red slider to about 3 minutes into the video, you will see him go to the piano for his encore song.
These are his words just as he’s about to play –
“Thank you, Worcester; thank you so much. It’s been an amazing year. It’s been an amazing life, and the thing I love about playing more live now than I ever did is that I really, really appreciate you guys so much more than I could ever explain… Thank you for buying tickets to this show, thank you for being so loyal, and so great. I’m a lucky man…. And I’m going to dedicate this song to all of you. I send you my love and hope that everything in your life is as good as mine right now….”
I’m not finished with stuff I had to do this week!
Oh well 😉
I hope you’ve had at least a few days of the glorious autumn weather that we’ve been experiencing here on the east coast.
Our leaves are more colorful by the hour, and the fresh air, azure skies, and moderate temperatures have us in a very celebratory mood!
During this time of year, it’s a New England tradition to make a day of going to an orchard to pick apples, select pumpkins and stock up on delicious cider!
Recently, Clenna and her grandchildren did just that! Thank you Clenna for sharing the pictures with us!
How fortunate Clenna is to have such sweet grandkids!
And how lucky are those kids? Their grandmother is helping them to create special memories…. memories they’ll carry in their hearts for the rest of their lives. 🙂
Enjoy your weekend, everyone!
May it be fun, yet relaxing . . .
with a little excitement, but with time to dream!
Let’s all meet back here on Monday to report on our adventures, ok? 😉
Hi Kids,
Hope you enjoyed the weekend. 🙂 We had a party!
I’ve mentioned that my Mum and Dad have their 60th wedding anniversary coming up soon (Sept. 2nd).
Because it will fall on a weekday, we had the celebration on Saturday (which coincidentally is the date I married Sir Beads way back when.) But, this year, Aug. 28th belonged to Mum and Dad!
Our daughter hosted a lovely party in her sweet little home. We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful summer day! There was good food, lots of laughter, and much love. How blessed we all felt to be able to share such a special occasion! The memory will surely be etched in our hearts, forever.
There was a cake, of course! It was decorated with hydrangeas, one of my parents’ favorite flowers. The blue/violet blooms remind them of Cape Cod.
The clear baubles you see above are acrylic “diamonds’! LOL Since the 60th is the diamond anniversary, these plastic sparklers were playfully strewn on tables throughout the room.
And it appears that 60 years of marriage can be good for one’s health! Can you believe they are 84 and 80 years old? And isn’t it sweet that he has his arm around her as they are about to cut the cake? 🙂
After 60 years, 6 kids, and 11 grandkids, they’re still smiling.
The day flew by, but there was a treat to take home!
For “party favors”, we ordered the cutest little cupcakes – each with miniature hydrangeas on top. (I wonder how many of them actually made it all the way home!) 😉
