Three Years (Pt. 2)

What can we say about January 7, 2010 that hasn't already been said?  Not much.  Doesn't make us think about it any less.  Doesn't lighten the load of remembering. Doesn't convince the bus driver to go park somewhere else.  It still pretty much sucks.

So what I'd like to do on this third anniversary of Charlotte Jennie's metamorphosis is to offer you music that reminds me (Daddy) of her.

The Great Remember from the CD Rare Bird Alert is the latest tune that has her spirit all over it.  The moment I saw this video of Steve Martin playing his original clawhammer banjo composition during his tour with the Steep Canyon Rangers, I thought of her. It has a beautiful, yearning melody and yet there are still wonderful elements of Martin's humor as he tunes before he plays.

Radiance is a vocal version of a Keith Jarrett improvisation recorded by Julia Dollison and Kerry Marsh.  I believe Kerry's sister put together the video slide show.  It's heartbreakingly beautiful and very difficult for me to watch.

Charlotte certainly loved Dora The Explorer.  She learned several Spanish words and phrases watching Dora and after her first surgery, when she started being able to speak, she counted to 10 in Spanish for us.  It meant an awful lot to hear her do that.

The Chanticleer version of Franz Biebl's Ave Maria is another heartbreakingly beautiful piece and I can't hear it without thinking about Charlotte and becoming a blubbering mess.  (The link comes complete with fireplace)

I believe someone introduced us to  "Two Thumbs Up" by Johnny Bregar after Charlotte died or near thereabouts.  It has become one of our official theme songs and Johnny has been tremendously generous to give us permission to do pretty much whatever we want with his recording.  We promise not to abuse that trust.

Here's another song that someone sent to us after Jan 7, 2010.  It's Jonatha Brooke's version of Woody Guthrie's, "New Star."  The lyrics are actually fairly odd but it came to us at the right time and now it has all kinds of meaning Woody never intended, I'm sure.

Of course, you didn't think I was going to leave out the Disney angle, did you?  Let's start with the last movie Charlotte saw in a theater, The Princess and the Frog.  There isn't a tune on the soundtrack that DOESN'T make me think of Charlotte and there was a time when I would obsessively listen to it every morning when opening up at Romp n' Roll (much to the chagrin, I'm sure, of the rest of the staff); however, I will include my favorite song from the movie, "Gonna Take You There."

How about some Little Mermaid?  "Part of Your World" seems so ubiquitous; so completely over played but it's a Charlotte song so I don't think I will ever get tired of it.

Next comes Mary Poppins.  I don't remember exactly when this movie became one of Charlotte's favorites but all of a sudden, it was all she wanted to watch.  So here's "Let's Go Fly A Kite" which has become one of our unofficial theme songs.

Last but not least by any stretch of the imagination, here's Charlotte's favorite version of Charlotte's favorite song, Frosty The Snowman by Dan Tyminsky.  We actually have a video of Charlotte dancing and sort of doing karaoke to this song.  We also have video of several former NFL players singing this to her on her birthday on July 9, 2009 in the the Nelson Clinic at Children's Hospital of Richmond.  THAT was something to see!  Waddya know? You can!  Here!

I'm sure I've left off dozens of songs and I'll probably be adding a tune here and there for days.  Please feel free to add your own song if it reminds you of CJ.

Today, we invite you to have a chocolate milk toast in honor of Charlotte and if you'd like, eat some "dadoo" (Cheerios or "round cereal") and mac n' cheese.

We love you so very much, Monkey Butt and miss you every day.

Share your memories with us

Saturday January 7th will mark two years since Charlotte emerged from her consuming chrysalis and flew away as a beautiful butterfly. 

We will remember the day with friends and family at 1 PM in our cul-de-sac. Anyone local is welcome to attend. We will have plenty of balloons and blank notes so people can write and send messages to Charlotte.


If you cannot attend our Remember CJ event, we invite you to remember sweet Charlotte in your own way. Please leave a message in the comments, either here in the blog or on our Facebook page, telling us how you have marked the day, a favorite Charlotte memory, or anything else you would like to share.


We appreciate the love and support that we feel from our community at this time. 


With much love,


Rachel & Roger

If you have tissues handy, you're invited to watch this video created by our friends, Julia Dollison & Kerry Marsh, in honor of Charlotte. It's a beautiful tribute to our girl.  

Radiance from Julia Dollison on Vimeo.

About the music: transcribed from Keith Jarrett's improvised solo piano recording in "Radiance Part 8", vocal a cappella arrangement by Kerry Marsh, lyrics by Julia Dollison, performed by Kerry Marsh & Julia Dollison.

Lyrics:

Sometimes in her sleep, she smiles.

Is she dreaming? is she far away?

Sometimes in her sleep, she laughs.

Is she happy? does she wish she could stay?

Sometimes in her sleep, she cries,

and you hold her and pray.

Morning comes, and she'll forget -

Things we dream about never make much sense.

Then the sun shines in, so bright,

just like her radiance.

All these moments fly by so quickly,

but she never seems to mind -

as long as you're by her side.

Sometimes in her sleep,

She awakens to find you were there all the while.

With a smile, she returns to her dreams.

All I want For My Birthday Is...

Can ya guess?

Oh well.

This has actually been a pretty good birthday. The snow yesterday certainly didn't hurt. It's also great that Rebecca (My "Punkin") Connelly came into town for a visit. She's one of Rachel's very bestest friends from U of Miami (mine too actually) and we haven't seen her in quite a while. She flies out today.

We were kind of snowed in and we've had to cancel/reschedule Birthday Bashes all weekend but what can you do? The 6" or so they predicted turned into 14"+! I got down to the store yesterday before it got too bad but by the time I got home, the snow was at the bumper in our unplowed cul de sac. I made it all the way to the edge of our yard and then got stuck. While I was digging a place to park the car against the curb, I left the lights on and the battery dies! Dopey me.

Nothing a quick jump couldn't fix. AAA was working hard all night I'm sure! Also, hats off to all the plowers who gave up their weekend to clear our roads and parking lots.

We had fun digging out today and it was great to see the neighborhood helping each other out. Dr. Dan came up the road with chocolate chip cookies for my B-day. Three of us dug out Granny Dot's driveway. The guy across the street brought his 4-wheel drive truck over and gave us a few tire tracks in the driveway as a starting point for getting Rachel's car out. Gotta love a small town. (Hopefully it wasn't restricted to just small towns.)

Rachel and I wrestled a bit in the snow. She lost but in a helpful way in that when I threw her into the snow, it was in a place where we needed to pack it down. She also made a stellar snow angel for CJ.

We also got Kolbey's car out. It does surprisingly good in the snow. I even tried my best to get it stuck but it wouldn't let me.

A while back, I posted the lyrics to a song transcribed/arranged by Kerry Marsh and Julia Dollison. It's called "Radiance" and today I got a video/recording of the tune from them (and Julia's sister) for my birthday. Please get some tissues and think good thoughts about CJ: "Radiance"

Of course I thought about her all day. Mostly very good but I did have my moments. It's always worse at night. (Think I've said that before)

It was awful nice to get all the birthday wishes from everyone via Facebook, Email, phone, and even a few of those old fashioned things called birthday cards! I really appreciate it.

Finally, tonight Rachel and I went to see the movie "Up In The Air" starring her boyfriend, George Clooney. Excellent movie. Almost as quirky as "About Schmidt" but much funnier.

In the end I guess people want to know if I had a happy Birthday. The answer is "yes, mostly." This is my kind of weather and I felt very much in my element getting out there and puttering around in the snow. But it wasn't the same without Charlotte. I know it won't ever really be.

On the other hand, beyond the constant sadness running deep inside us, we're doing ok. Rachel and I cried on each other's shoulders when we watched the "Radiance" video. We had fun in the snow. We had fun at the movie.

We just keep going.