Topp Twins @ The Atrium, Auckland Museum, May 2024 © Fiona
We went to see the Topp Twins perform at the Auckland Museum a couple of Friday nights ago. Quite an intimate concert, I purchased the tickets on a whim as they flashed across my social media, partly motivated by reading the twins' recent autobiography. Covid isolation sparked a significant number of autobiographies in the music world, as folk had time on their hands. I had a sense that future opportunities to see them in concert would be limited by their health concerns and ongoing battle with cancer. So it proved to be, as the concert seemed to have valedictory tone. The twins were making meaning through the narrative of their lives as they sang and wisecracked to the appreciative crowd. Their political activism is often masked by their humour and harmony, but it was revealed this night. Rich lives connected to key moments in New Zealand history.
We visited with my parents on the weekend in Napier, who are becoming progressively disconnected from their history due to memory loss or dementia. Yet still they make meaning from the stories. I attempt to add details to their recollections, remembering anecdotes from my perspective, colouring the picture a little. We often talk about France, where my Dad worked as a design draughtsman on the Concorde project in 1973-4. This time we chatted about the Eiffel Tower, and for a moment it seemed he was suggesting he might have worked on the drawings for it, difficult to imagine seeing as it was opened in 1889! So his positive memories become blended together to form an alternative history.
This morning as I ran, I listened to Seven Psalms by Paul Simon. I have always had a profound admiration for his musical craftsmanship, but wonder if this may be his last recording, as I understand he is not living with dementia or cancer (that we know of), but rather significant hearing loss, making performing and recording more challenging these days. His words make meaning of life's ups and downs, and have accompanied my thoughts and pleased my ears these many years. In the closing stanza Wait, he sings; "Life is a meteor, Let your eyes roam, Heaven is beautiful, It's almost like home, Children! get ready, It's time to come home."
Let us look to our own stories, gathering the psalms and songs we need to make meaning, enjoying and giving thanks for the gift of life that we have. Our faith tells us we live with God now, we are already home in a sense, having every reason to find love and grace in this troubled world. Shalom
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