Firebird

 Over the years, we have missed at least two opportunities to hear the Fort Worth Symphony perform one of Jim's favorite classical pieces. Stravinsky's, "The Firebird ". Either we would be gone and traveling, had other plans on the same evening, or we already had our season package selected and did not fit in another performance. Finally... he booked it. We had it on our calendar for 6 months.

April 22, 2023 should have been a lovely evening at the Bass Hall, but we did not see the performance that Jim was really looking forward to. That day was one week to the day after the collision that changed our life path. Jim was in the ICU and partially conscious at best, lucky and blessed to hear anything. Firebird would have to wait again. I donated the tickets on his behalf.

I tried playing the piece for him from time to time as part of the musical stimulus I was providing to help him heal and stimulate his brain. Interestingly, he mostly scowled or tightened his facial muscles, and it appeared to do the opposite of my intention. Too much stimulation? Too much staccato? I'm not certain, but it was not the time.

But he has progressed so much over the last three and a half months that I opened a YouTube "Firebird" performance by the LA Symphony Orchestra last evening during dinner. He was fixated with the video. The conductor's movements. The colors and musical instruments. Certainly the emotion of it. And, without any promotion, he started tapping out the note rhythms including pauses and intensity...perfectly.

To most people going about their daily business and trying to keep all the balls in the air, tapping out of rhythm isn't a blip on their radar. Who doesn't tap out a rhythm now and then? Did Jim remember it is Stravinsky? No. Did he recall the title, "The Firebird"? Still no. But, deep inside he knew it... Felt it. Tapped it out on the table top. That's a far cry from a scowl. And, he is a far cry from where he was that evening in April.

God is good.