The flight of the Butterfly

My father was not a good husband to my mother.

His skills as a father could be questioned too, and that is not a completely new idea, but there are two points I want to make regarding her marriage:

• She never had any interest in dating or marrying again; once was quite enough.
• She still never regretted marrying him, because of the good things that came from that. 

Two of the songs are because of that, and kind of a third as well.

"America" by Neil Diamond, from the soundtrack of The Jazz Singer:

In my growing up years, some musicians got played a lot that were not really my choice. That might involve Black Sabbath from my brother, Steve Miller and the Beatles from my older sister, and definitely Anne Murray, the Ray Conniff Singers, ABBA, and Neil Diamond from my parents. I don't hate any of them, but I think I have heard enough of them to last a long time.

It still felt like I should include something from there. "America" was the best fit. It played frequently in our house, it represented Mom coming to a new country after marrying my father, and it is also the track for an amazing sequence in a different movie, Born in East LA:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AecJ4Vi_zqk 

"The Holy City":

I used a version by the Tabernacle Choir for the song of the day on the 11th, but a version from the London Philharmonic on the playlist I have been listening to while I sort out my feelings. 

In fact, Mom's favorite version was sung by Jeannie Rickards at church and she apparently did an amazing job that Mom never forgot. It was before my time, but I did go to girls' camp with one of Jeannie's daughters so that's my connection.

I chose that song to represent her faith. My father may have led in the decision to meet with missionaries and get baptized, but he stopped going later and she never did. Her faith sustained her and was never something she could regret.

"You're A Friend of Mine" by Clarence Clemons and Jackson Browne

She made a lot of friends through church, and she made a lot of friends through her work (which does have a song, but that's a different post), and through greyhounds. He was the one who first brought a stray greyhound home on his way out of town, leaving her to care for it. 

She was not thrilled with that (it was pretty inconsiderate) but she quickly grow to love that dog, who absolutely loved her. It also led to her contacting the adoption group, volunteering with them, and making many more friends.

Her ability to make friends wherever she went did not come from him, but a lot of the "wherever" was him.

Her family did not really have pets, but they became a constant part of her life here. She loved her cats and dogs (which tended to be collies before we discovered greyhounds). Sure, I thought about "Who Let the Dogs Out" and "What's New Pussycat", but no.

I also don't know a good song to express Mom's love her for children, but she wanted us and could never regret us.

She was resilient and found many good things in her life. Most of them got their start in my father, but that was not their end.