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Tag: father

A Whiter Shade

I’ve heard the song “A Whiter Shade Of Pale” by Procol Harum almost daily recently. They have the radio on in the kitchen at the cafe I frequent, and while many of the usual songs on “today’s top hits” radio are the same hits of the ’60s-’90s they play every day, this one stands out. There’s simply nothing else like it. But more importantly, it reminds me of my late father.

If This is All There Is…

As we get older, we are often reminded of our mortality, our fragility, and the inevitable end of this journey.

As relationships, friends, family members, and memories fade and fall away, we quietly posit and define chapter headings to our story. Every milestone initiates a recapitulation, as we inevitably, and perhaps unexpectedly, check in with ourselves. Are we living our real and true mission? Is this all there is to life? How much time do we have left?

Father

He sat on the bed in the basement bedroom, warming up his fingers across the inclined keyboard on the old accordion. Frustrated with the way…