From youth to old age
There is a crashing of keys on the piano. The gifted musician plays with a skill and a vigor which captures the attention of all of us. Music pours out, most of it from the early forties when we were young and full of life. We know the songs, all of them. I danced to them with the man who later became my husband, and the memories pour back. A lifetime has passed with the highs and lows that are inevitable. The music and the memories blend into a wonderful mixture. Then, with a flourish, he plunges into his final piece. “I’ll Be Seeing You,” he announces.
Suddenly I am no longer in my Vancouver Lodge on a chilly November day, but back in Calgary on a warm September morning, whose calm is shattered by the rousing music of a military band, and the sound of marching troops.
“Mom, look! They’re heading for the cenotaph in the park. What’s going on?”
“Canada must have declared war,”whispers our trembling mother. “Over and over again – Why does this have to be? Oh, God help us.” Continue reading