Two days ago, on April 4th, 2014 around 2:20 p.m., I was working at my computer with Sirius XM radio, Symphony Hall, playing faintly in the next room. I became aware that a violin rendition of the song, Somewhere over the Rainbow, was playing. I stopped what I was doing and listened. This station is on at my house practically 24/7 and, in the more than ten years of listening to Symphony Hall, I’ve never heard this song played. Symphony Hall showcases classical music, not classic pop music.
Then I realized what day of the week it was.
It was Friday. A year ago on this very Friday, my dad went to the hospital for out-patient surgery to remove cancerous spots in his bladder. The surgery went fine, routine, etc., etc. But he didn’t recover.
Around 2:30 p.m. on that year-ago Friday was the last time I talked to my dad when he was still like the dad who had gone into surgery just a few hours before. After that, it was all downhill. My mom, my husband, and I sat at his side for the last hours of his life, talking to him, telling him stories to get him to ‘stay with us’ while family members literally raced against the clock to reach the hospital in time.
We said our goodbyes—including for those who didn’t make it—and he passed with a smile on his face, at peace that his family was at his bedside.
Today, April 6th, the one-year anniversary of his passing, we gathered for a picnic in his memory and to honor a year of the ‘firsts’ without him—the holidays, birthdays, wedding anniversary… Easter this year is two weeks away, and it may be the most bittersweet for us, because he was with us for Easter dinner last year on March 31st.
But today was okay. It was a good. We remembered. We cried. We smiled.
So, how does Somewhere over the Rainbow playing on the radio fit into this? It was my dad’s favorite song. He told me years ago that he wanted it played at his funeral.
Was it nothing more than an uncanny coincidence to hear that song played on that radio channel on that day at that time? There are a lot of thats to be just coincidence.
Or, did Dad send a message through a song to let us know he’s still with us… somewhere?
I’d like to think so, because somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue, and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.
Until next time,
Kaye