“And when the broken-hearted people living in the world agree…”

July 1, 2018

Last Sunday afternoon, after having a great time playing “Pig Mania” with Garvey, Polette, and Peter, I said “good-bye” to his family. I reassured Polette I would be back for her birthday in October. Peter drove me to the airport to fly back to Las Vegas. With my head cold it was a fairly miserable day of flying made bearable by watching downloaded episodes of “Longmire”.

Steve pays attention to details on the RV and had seen that grease was seeping from the left front wheel. So Monday I followed in the car as he took the RV to a place in Henderson where they could replace the seal around the bearing. We left the RV there but they did not have the right part and could not keep it overnight so we had to go get it and park it at Pam’s and then take it back the next day. So most of Monday and Tuesday were taken up with those trips. But the wheel is fixed.

Tuesday night Steve took me and Pam to see the Terry Fator show at the Mirage in Vegas. Terry Fator is a talented ventriloquist who can imitate over 200 famous singers with his puppets.  We were certainly entertained. To get to any show one must walk through the Casino areas and they depress me so much. I want to walk up to people and say, “Could we have what you will lose tonight to give to Midwives for Haiti instead of you gambling it away and giving it to people who are wealthy already?” But I manage to control myself - barely.

Terry Fator and "Elton John"

Remembering that the refrigerator does not run when the RV is not level (learned that the hard way back in Florida) Steve had taken everything out of it and put it in Pam’s refrigerator. Wednesday, we left the RV at Pam’s and drove our car the 4 hours to Los Angeles where Steve’s son, James, lives with his family.

Steve had not seen his son in 6 years. He had met James’ daughter, Parvaty, who was age 1 at the time, but had never met Jameson and Atlas who are now 5 and 3. Things had been rocky between Steve and his son for a long time. The last time they were together in 2012 they had had some strong words and both have been hurting ever since.  James’ wife, Rachel, contacted Steve a couple of months ago and said she really wanted her children to get to know him and invited us to come see them. Steve checked with James, who said we could come.

The view of LA from James and Rachel's hour in the front

And the view from the back of the house

James and Rachel and their 3 children live on the top of a mountain ridge where they have amazing views of Los Angeles from both the front and back of the large house they rent. When we arrived, 3 little ones were waiting for us and were so excited to meet their Grandpa and me. We ended up having 3 lovely days there, going back to a hotel each evening. The last day we all drove to a beach in Malibu. It had been a long time since either of us had seen the Pacific Ocean. The day was sunny, the ocean breeze light and the temperature perfect. We enjoyed playing in the sand with the children and long talks with James and Rachel.  At the end of the day, James gave Steve one of his drones that he had taught Steve to operate. Wow!  Steve had been looking at drones he could use to document our travels but hesitated to spend $1000 on a toy.  Double WOW!  Look for aerial videos as part of future blogs.

James, Rachel, Atlas, Jameson, and Pavarty

Atlas ran to hug Steve’s legs every morning when we arrived and we fell in love with all three of the children. At the end of that last day, Steve said, with great emotion, “It was a spectacular day!”  And said, “We will not wait a whole year before seeing them again.” A big heart ache was healed.

We are now back at Pam’s in Las Vegas and this morning I showed Steve the Car Karaoke episode that has gone viral in the last 10 days featuring Paul McCartney as James Corden’s special guest. At the end of it, people from multiple generations are singing with Paul, many with tears in their eyes. By the end of watching it we both had tears in our eyes, even though for me it was the third time seeing it.

Here’s the link if you haven’t seen it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjvzCTqkBDQ

In the episode, James and Paul mention that the lyrics to many of the Beatles songs from the 60’s and 70’s are still so relevant today. I think that is why they still have universal appeal. We can still sing these songs and find meaning in them for today.

From The Beatles - Revolution

“Well, you know
We all want to change the world

But when you talk about destruction
Don't you know that you can count me out

…………………….
You say you'll change the constitution
Well, you know
We all want to change your head
You tell me it's the institution
Well, you know
You'd better free your mind instead

But if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao (Kim Jong Un?)
You ain't going to make it with anyone anyhow

Don't you know know it's gonna be alright
Alright, alright”

Listening to the people sing together I was struck by the magic of music- how it strikes chords in us, how it can bring people who may totally disagree on religion and politics together with common emotion, common values, common feelings. I remember commitments I made during singing at church, the comradery of singing in a choir with like-minded people, the love that is stirred. The music we listen to is important to who we become.

I thought about the healing between James and Steve. I thought about the unity of the people who marched for Family Together-ness yesterday and the strength we have as a country when we can affirm that even though we may disagree on many things, there are some basic values we can agree upon. There is great heart-ache in our country and we need a good song to bring us together.

And when the broken-hearted people
Living in the world agree
There will be an answer
Let it be

For though they may be parted there is
Still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer
Let it be