It’s been refreshing in some ways to accidentally step away from this site, this after investing a significant amount to refresh the look and feel of my site.  I missed the third anniversary of the launch of my blog in the process.  In essence, I took probably 3-6 weeks off to launch a new soccer club, and I have been richly rewarded to invest so much discretionary time into something of great value to others.

As with most folks, alot has happened in the last few weeks.  Probably the highlight away from the soccer venture was taking my wife to an evening with Julie Andrews.  I thought it would be fairly dull, to be honest.  Andrews had throat surgery over a decade ago, and she retired her voice soon after.  We made our way to the new ampitheater which now houses the Atlanta Symphony for what promised to be an evening of music narrated by Andrews.  What was rolled out was a gift to everyone there.  “The Sound of Music” notes were unmistakable from from the ASO, then the images came on the big screens around the stage.

Andrews came out with three men and two women, and the quintet would sing different Rogers and Hammerstein songs solo or together.  Andrews would take over or join them on occasion, and you really didn’t care what she sounded like.  Her vocal range, once like a sparrow’s, had been transformed into a Lou Rawls-like bass at times.  She would change key in mid-song, much like you or I would in some sing-along.  It was an incredible gift that she has given us for the last fifty years, and it was an incredible gift that she gave my wife and me that Saturday evening.

One of the forgotten gems that she shared was her first television appearance, a live production of “Cinderalla” in 1957.

From “My Fair Lady” to “The King and I,” notes morphed from memories decades old.

From thirty years ago, an Evening with Julie Andrews in Japan (1977)

These days seem like gifts to me, I must confess.  After days of drifting and bobbing, days of neglect, days of forbidden thoughts, days of self, I cherish each day of potential now, each day of nurturing, each day of subtle joy.

I am thankful for the love of my life choosing me each morning and evening when life could be easier away from me.  She is growing her hair to chop it off as a gift to cancer victims, but she’s become more beautiful to me with each passing day.  That beauty will fade, I realize.  It’s never been about the beauty for me.  When you find a spirit so vast yet gentle, you cherish each and every moment with that soul.

Our boys started school (7th and 5th grade), leaving our youngest to hold down the fort as he waits for his final year of pre-school to commence.  I wait for the day when the boys walk away from me, when I no longer am fun or interesting, when I’m unable to create a spark in the eye of one of these three young men.  The older boys are definitely on their own at twelve and ten, but they still love their mother dearly and still love me.

These gifts, the gift of a new day.

Tags: Julie Andrews

This entry was posted on Monday, August 11th, 2008 at 6:17 am and is filed under Fathering. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.