Facing Another First
This is the rush up to another Old Songs Festival. Sheila would be getting so excited to see her favorite human being outside the family, Roger the Jester. Her favorite part of going to the festival was seeing Roger. She would ask who would be taking her to see him over and over again, during this week. We would do our best to reassure her that someone would be available to take her to each of his performances, we just didn’t know who it would be yet. This would temporarily reassure her, only to hear the question again in another hour or two.
One of the things we would do as a family (and this could include my sister, Sue and her family, too) is look over the grid of workshops and decide where we would want to be, sometimes even ranking the priorities when there were two or more in any given time slot that we wanted to attend. Then we would look to see who was available during Roger’s timeslots. There were enough of us that enjoyed Roger as well that we could make sure she got to all his appearances.
Then came the year he told her he would start teaching her and a buddy basic juggling skills. He broke down each step of the process to make it easier for people with disabilities to learn how to juggle. Andrea volunteered to be her buddy. Sheila never got to the point of independently juggling with three balls. But that didn’t really matter to her. She could do three with partner and two alone and that was good enough for her.
Although Roger the Jester was her priority, there were many other parts of the festival she enjoyed, too. She loved bands that were sliding more towards swing or jazz. Up-tempo bands were her favorite. Stuart Fuchs (ukelele) and Bing Futch (dulcimer) were favorite solo artists. Always there is a risk of naming some bands or solo performers and not others. Sheila would never intentionally hurt feelings and typically after each performance she would say to me, “Oh, mom, they’re my favorite.” The thing is, in that moment they were her favorite.
How were we able to discern who were truly favorites? By the recordings she repeatedly asked to hear. Magpie and Kim & Reggie Harris were favorites. Especially their, Guide My Feet, album was a huge favorite. So much so that when we were planning her Celebration of Life service, we knew we would need to include the title track, Guide My Feet, and Give Light in the service. The Hopeful Gospel quartet, Climbing Up the Rough Side, album—Track 2 - Life is a Ball Game was another huge favorite. Ironic that Robin and Linda Williams will be at Old Songs this year and Sheila won’t be there to fangirl them. Robin and Linda Williams were members of the Hopeful Gospel Quartet.
What was the best thing about this festival for Sheila? Family.
Sheila saw this festival as an extension of her family. She loved Andy and Bill Spence. We saw my parents frequently when the girls were little as Andrea got clarinet and oboe lessons every Saturday from my dad. My mom (a violinist) would listen to Colleen playing the violin many a Saturday. Colleen started Suzuki violin lessons as a 5-year-old. She had heard Natalie MacMaster the year before and had decided she “wanted to do that” when she grew up. Two years ago, the band she plays in, Petrichord, played at the festival.
All three of my girls felt like Andy and Bill were the other set of grandparents, as Forrest’s dad passed before any of them were born and his mother… well, that’s a story for never. So, this festival that felt like a giant family reunion to the girls—only, these were all the relatives you wanted to see. There are all these fond memories wrapped up in the wrench of loss this year.
Sheila will be there in spirit and that is what I need to keep front and center as I proceed. Yes, this run up to the festival that starts this coming Friday, is a challenge. Always held on the last full weekend in June, it has been a tradition throughout our marriage. It’s never too late to start going to the best family-friendly folk music festival in the region.
I couldn’t help myself but this article made me cry. Old Songs and my family are so incredibly important to me and I wish I could be there.
We have so many memories of sharing the Old Songs Festival with you and yours. Sorry, did not mean to make you cry.