I realize this is the second post today – but it was a very worthwhile experience. Melissa and Ryan recommended that we partake in a Traditional Irish Music Pub Crawl while in Dublin, and so we did. This was truly a fantastic treat! Anthony (Booster) and Niall taught us a great deal about music, and the difference between tunes and songs here. We started at one pub and finished at a second. It was about the music, not the pubs, and it was an enlightening experience.
Booster talked about gathering together as musicians to simply play together for the joy of playing together – not for the crowd. I thought instantly of Stacey’s Dad Jim, Bapa, Ferrier. Dad has been in a Bluegrass band (WSU) on the South Shore of Boston for near a decade now. They gather and play together because they love playing together in what they call a jam, and what the Irish call a session. Both are equally as enjoyable and fulfilling to witness.
Our walk from one pub to another was a chance to talk with a young lady among us that will be married Thursday on the Cliffs of Moher. She asked us if they are as beautiful as they look in pictures. I actually chuckled when she asked. Nope. They are FAR more beautiful than one can imagine without being there.
So they sang ‘Will Ye Go Lassie Go’ tonight, and it made me cry a little. Mom loved that song. When they finished, I noticed Booster wiping a tear quietly. He shrugged it off and went on with the show. I was too busy sneaking a napkin to my own wet eyes to think more of it. As the nights end came closer, he kind of hesitated and got a little choked up as he spoke. Booster told us his Mom was suffering from dementia, and they put her into “palliative care” late last week. He told us that was why he got emotional and went a little long tonight. They wrapped up the show and welcomed us to come say hello.
And so I did. I introduced myself to Booster and told him that Mom had Alzheimer’s and we put her into hospice, or palliative care, for about a week before she passed on 15 June. I told him that I KNEW it was the right thing to do. He hugged me tight and we both cried a little.
This was a good day. Jim Valvano said in his famous speech that if you laugh, and you cry, and you think in the same day – that’s a good day. Today was a good day. 😍
Beautiful.