I missed the original run of this, which is lucky for me because I got to read it today. The line about the gods not being our personal DJs got a laugh, but one of those laughs where there are also hints of tears in your eyes. That the concert and your mourning bundled into one another made for an interesting intersection. It was just a good story about the many facets and forms grief can take. Thanks for sharing it again.
Maybe my favorite bit was the way you chose “Start a War” for that challenging moment. I lost two loved ones when I was pretty young, and everyone consoled me by saying “They never really leave you” but I couldn’t understand how that was true. I could never see them again! Death is pretty definitive. Two decades and several losses later, I connect people to songs naturally all the time. When those people inevitably leave and I feel their absence, I play their song, and sometimes it actually does feel like they’re right there.
I hope your song, whether technically apt or not for your loss, always helps conjure some part of the complicated person you said goodbye to.
Never have I ever listened to the national (on purpose) until now.
Welcome to Dadville.
I missed the original run of this, which is lucky for me because I got to read it today. The line about the gods not being our personal DJs got a laugh, but one of those laughs where there are also hints of tears in your eyes. That the concert and your mourning bundled into one another made for an interesting intersection. It was just a good story about the many facets and forms grief can take. Thanks for sharing it again.
Maybe my favorite bit was the way you chose “Start a War” for that challenging moment. I lost two loved ones when I was pretty young, and everyone consoled me by saying “They never really leave you” but I couldn’t understand how that was true. I could never see them again! Death is pretty definitive. Two decades and several losses later, I connect people to songs naturally all the time. When those people inevitably leave and I feel their absence, I play their song, and sometimes it actually does feel like they’re right there.
I hope your song, whether technically apt or not for your loss, always helps conjure some part of the complicated person you said goodbye to.