A Rambling Post

Faithful readers of this blog know what it is all about.  It is best summed up in a quote from an article I read shortly after JW died.  The article was about the troubled life of Mother Theresa and included the following quote:  There are two responses to trauma: to hold on to it in all its vividness and remain its captive, or without necessarily 'conquering' it, to gradually incorporate it into the day-by-day.

This post is intended to capture the essence of the above thought, however imperfectly it may have been fulfilled to date.  Switching between JW's blog and that of his niece and nephew as maintained by John's sister-in-law, Gina, one cannot help but be struck by the notion of the circle of life.

While the above notion is perhaps trite, another essential element of this blog is the soothing balm that music can provide to the pains of life, especially grief.  Thus, reflecting upon the events of the past couple of months -- reflecting upon the circle of life and the role of music has led to some memories.

The first deals with Harry Chapin, a musical favorite of John's mom's and dad's even predating JW's birth.  The first Harry Chapin concert we went to was in a high school gym in Huntington, Long Island.  Other concerts included two at the St. John's University campus on Staten Island, NY; the first of which was so sparsely attended, Harry invited the entire audience to join him up on the stage.

A staple of Harry's concerts was to close with the song "All My Life's a Circle."  Click on the YouTube link below to see a 1977 version of that song, and note the hair and clothing style from the era of JW's birth.



Harry died tragically young, in 1981 as a result of an auto accident on the Long Island Expressway not too far from where I grew up.  He was on his way to give a free concert at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow, Long Island.

Throughout his career, Harry focused on his social activism, including raising money to combat hunger in the United States.  In 1987, Harry was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his humanitarian work.  At the ceremony, Bruce Springsteen paid tribute to Harry by playing a rendition of Harry's song "Remember When the Music."

Ironically, Harry had written this song as a tribute to a man both he and I looked up to, Allard Lowenstein, a one-term Congressman from Long Island who was murdered in 1980.  I first met Lowenstein when I was in high school and he was an inspiration for my interest in politics and public policy.  Lowenstein was instrumental in the "dump Johnson" movement in 1968.

You can view Bruce's tribute to Harry by clicking on the below YouTube link.



Another theme of this blog, to honor the spirit of JW -- "do something!"

Finally, even the movie the Big Lebowski as recounted in the below post has something to say on this topic in the closing scene between the Dude and the Stranger (Sam Elliott) -- the Dude abides -- as can be seen in the below YouTube link complete with one of my favorite musicians, Townes Van Zandt (who also died tragically young), singing the Rolling Stones' "Dead Flowers" in the background.  "Strikes and gutters," such is life.



Just like the Stranger, I'm just rambling here and, as always, thinking of you, JW.