This is Where I’ve Been

  Week Fifty-two: The End  And in the end The love you take Is equal to the love you make – The Beatles, The End from Abbey Road Some time ago when I finally decided I would shed some long-kept but under-utilized books I came across two beautiful volumes that I thought I would give to our friends’ grandchildren instead of the local used bookstore. The day I went to the house to give them the books, I sat with them at the kitchen island building I-don’t-know-what out of thousands of Lego pieces. Connor, age 10 and Caroline, age 7 are very different people. Connor is reserved and thoughtful. Caroline is playful and spontaneous. Together they generate joy. I spent the better part of an hour building something that looked like I was new to Lego World and blocking Caroline from tearing it apart. Her last attempt was successful (and my excuse to retire to where the other adults sat and talked.) Not long afterward I got two handmade cards. Connor’s card read: Thank you... ...

  Week Fifty-one: Julia So I sing a song of love for Julia —The Beatles, Julia, from the untitled album aka The White Album No song holds more sentimental value for me than Julia . None. Let me explain. I first conceived of this project, the one in which I would post one essay per week for a year, seven years ago. By the time I had written a dozen pieces or so, I lost interest. One year ago I stumbled upon the electronic folder that contained the fragments that would eventually be the first dozen posts of this blog. My project was revived. My hope was that through the music in my life and the memories it provoked,  I would reveal where I had been so to speak and more importantly who I have become. The stories have been random, but as a collection they are a list of the things that matter to me. As I would get an idea and develop the thoughts into something I might like to share, with a few exceptions, I simply put them at the end of the queue. In some cases I tried to time th...