Music and underwear
Have I ever shared with you how much I love music? Listening to it, singing it (poorly, but with great enthusiasm) and playing it. At one time in my life I played the violin, the flute, and the piano. The piano is the only one that stuck, and I still continue to play it to this very day. Nothing impresses a 4-year-old more than your ability to start playing any song that she knows on the piano.
My father also said that gift would come in handy one day and, thank God, it did. Though, if you can figure out how to play the ABC song, you have a whole collection of children’s songs in your repertoire. They are pretty simple and all related.
I can even figure out the Jewish songs that make the little ones so happy these days. Hits like “Shabbos is Coming,” or “Shabbos is Going Away,” or the Grammy-nominated “Hashem Gave us a Present — Do You Know What It Is?” The combination of bass and melody in those classics is truly inspiring for listeners of all ages.
Of course, I also taught Strudel the joy of the Police and their older work. “Walking in Your Footsteps,” “Synchronicity,” you know, the classics. Nothing offensive, just good, clean, instrumentally heavy songs. Ahh, the ’80s, good times and good music. Uncle Moishey it’s not — but not everything can be. And that is OK.
This takes us to Billy Joel. Part One of the documentary about his life came out a few days ago. I have always been a fan because, before anything else that he is as a musician, he was trained in classical piano, and he is so amazingly talented. I could listen to the introduction to “Angry Young Man” all day. It’s absolutely incredible.
So I start watching the documentary, and it starts playing songs from very early in his career. They were all beautiful and based on a complicated relationship he had been in. And then they started talking about the song “Piano Man,” which came to be after Mr. Joel worked in a bar as the piano player.
The song was based on people who would hang out around the piano night after night, or people who worked with him. In any event, as I am listening to this song for like the millionth time, I just start crying.
I run up the stairs to Husband #1, my pillar of support and strength. He asks me what’s wrong, and I say, “I am listening to ‘Piano Man,’ and it is making me realize that my life is more than half over.” And my loving and devoted husband, the man who has been by my side through all the good and the bad, looks at me and says, “Banj, it’s even more over than that….no offense.”
The good news is I wasn’t sad anymore, the bad news is my husband hasn’t changed at all in 30 years. And that is okay. Killing him is not the answer. Making him live out his final years, hopefully many of them in good health, with me. That is an even better punishment!
So I am leaving for Israel this week to see Danish and her parents and her sister. I am sending Strudel packages “from Israel” because she gets very excited when she gets mail. So I am mailing some for this week, Husband #1 is mailing some next week, and then my friend from the Island of Long is continuing the charade by mailing them the week after.
We won’t go into what postage costs for some of these, but it will be all worth it when she gets it, gets all excited, and then shares with her sister. Ahh, a Babka can dream, right?
For the next few weeks, God willing, I will be sharing my adventures in Camp Babka International. If you aren’t interested, please feel free to take the next three weeks off, I won’t be insulted — well, maybe a little, but you won’t know because I am so mature about everything.
Hope you are all having a healthy and fun summer!
Banji Ganchrow of Teaneck is asking her community to be on the lookout for a bald, lonely middle-aged man who will be wandering the streets with no clean underwear. Be nice when you see him and, perhaps, offer him a can of Fanta and some Stella D’oro cookies.
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