Monday, January 17, 2011

Link O'Day: Song Remembering My Dad

Today's link is admittedly very personal. My daughter is a singer-songwriter. People in the Portland OR area know she is a familiar performer in that area. She moved home to Texas in October, partly to be near my dad, Zeb Fitzgerald, was turned 98 in June of this year. She was a daily visitor with him until his death December 11. His death hit her very hard, as can be said for me. He was a constant in both of our lives. She sang "Amazing Grace" at his funeral. Then she went home and started on a song to honor him. That is my link for today. I am not sure what she will title it, but I am calling it "Song for Zeb." She worked it up over several days. At one point she got to a place in the lyrics, part of the chorus, and could not decide what should come next. I contributed a line and, amazingly, she liked it! She has NEVER liked any of my suggestions in the past and yeah, most are pretty off-the-wall. Anyway, here is MY line, which she pronounced the heart of the song:
"Take heart in the gift of knowing him
To remember as we go on."

I love that phrase "take heart" as an inspirational exhortation. I have serious doubts that she is likely to take a line from me in the future. She performed the song about a week later at Cheatham Street Warehouse in San Marcos. There were several people there who remembered him. It was a very touching and memorable event for me. I missed out on the very first bit, which may make the beginning sound abrupt, but I hope you enjoy it. In her remarks before the song she told how, in her mind, Dad was so special that everybody in town should have been at his funeral. Later, she takes comfort in the fact that at least people pulled over as the funeral procession made its way to the cemetery.

No comments:

Post a Comment