Today would have been my brother Steve’s 77th birthday. This sad song by Irving Berlin always makes me think of how families must separate—through deaths, through wars, sometimes through hard decisions that force parting ways. Families in Ukraine are being separated by war. I think of the unwanted separations there and throughout the world caused by war. The world longs for peace.
It’s hard when a teacher retires, a minster moves on, or any beloved advisor is no longer available to us. But they have their own paths they must follow. It’s natural to be sad, but it’s also good to accept changes and move forward. Children sometimes catch on quickly and show us the way.
We recently experienced the emergence of the 17-year cicadas. They have left us now but will come again in 17 years. Their egg-laying has affected the trees, leaving orange or brown leaves. But the trees (at least the mature ones) will not be permanently damaged. The annual cicadas have now returned, but not in such numbers and without the intense humming. They will not affect the trees. Handel’s aria “Ombra mia fu” celebrates a beautiful tree.