Make You Feel My Love

 Week Forty-four: Make You Feel My Love


I’ve known it from the moment that we met

No doubt in my mind where you belong


I’d go hungry, I’d go black and blue

I’d go crawling down the avenue

Know there’s nothing that I wouldn’t do

To make you feel my love


—Adele, Make You Feel My Love from the album 19 

(written by Bob Dylan from Time Out of Mind)



Ever since I began this project, I have written essays based on songs that I hear. Songs from the radio usually, but every once in a while I’ll get one from unlikely sources like television commercials or background music supporting a reel on Facebook. Such was the case for this song.


I recognized Adele’s voice, that’s easy, but had no clue about the song, so I played it over several times in an effort to get even a partial lyric. Once that was done, a Google search led me to Make You Feel My Love. For fans of Adele it might have been much easier, but at least I had found the name of the song and could read the lyrics for myself. And like some other love songs, I recognized that the voice was addressing romantic love, but reading the lyrics made me think of my grandchildren.


I like to say that being someone’s father is the second best job on earth. Thanks to both of our children I also get to have the best job, too. My philosophy of grandparenting can be summed up in three words: Anything For You. We have three grands, and from the moment each was born my only goal was to make them love me as much as possible, and the two oldest ones recognize my signature “AFY” when they thank me for any particular thing.


Not so long ago I learned that our only grandson had twisted his ankle playing basketball. Like most twenty-somethings, he knew to put ice on it, which he did. When I saw a photo and later when I saw it in person, I wondered if it was more than a sprain. As a busy university sophomore, his life wasn’t waiting for him to convalesce. I texted him to offer my involvement. Much to my surprise his response was not one form or another of “I’m good. Love you Grandad.” 


Instead, he asked me to bring him an ankle brace.


UNC Chapel Hill was about an hour from where I lived, and when travel time was added to the time it took to find a brace, it took me a little while to get there. In the meanwhile he sent me another text: and bring some deodorant please. 


AFY



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLoyNxjhTzc

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