What a wonderful, quiet winter afternoon – I am curled up in a comfy chair, wrapped in a blanket and enjoying the last three squares of my delicious chocolate bar from the European store. (So it is time to go do some European chocolate shopping. Fortunately Greg has many friends from Eastern Europe for whom he shops when he passes through Salt Lake City. I finally have a good source!)

Back to my quiet afternoon. My activity of choice is, of course, to read a book and I just closed the last page of Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate. This book has touched me at so many levels and with so many emotions. One paragraph, however, has kept me pondering in my chair when I should be preparing dinner. It is on page 315 and is referring to the musical score of a production:

Life in not unlike cinema. Each scene has its own music, and the music is created for the scene, woven to it in ways we do not understand. No matter how much we may love the melody of a bygone day or imagine the song of a future one, we must dance within the music of today, or we will always be out of step, stumbling around in something that doesn’t suit the moment. _{Wingate, Lisa. Before We Were Yours. Ballantine Books, 2017.}

Lately I have been enjoying my memories of adventures and friends from across the years. Different times, different faces, different stages, different places. Within myself a variety of interests, talents, goals, maturity, worries, confidence, curiosity, compassion… the list goes on and on as I think of how I have changed through internal and external sources.

So here I am sitting in my chair and dinner is past-due but I am enjoying this new-found symphony of my life. I claim no musical talent but I can feel this in my head; or is it in my heart? Either way no one else can hear it. I am enjoying the music of:

• Childhood in which my siblings and our imaginations have front stage while parents love and support us.
• College years of living with roommates, text books and going home for the holidays. Coming of age.
• Falling in love with Mark and the early years of our marriage – no money but all happiness, life is a grand adventure!
• Early family years as the children begin to arrive, college graduations and finding our way together in the world.
• The family grows and we hit our stride – life is so good! These are the golden years.
• The children begin to leave – now my music is full of melancholy mixed with excitement, looking to the future…
• Our family grows again, this time with a new daughter and soon a granddaughter and I begin to step back, observe and take on a new role. Children are adults with symphonies of their own. I am so grateful that our music is harmonious – sometimes far apart but when we are together the word crescendo comes to mind.
• I love the music of Oregon, Washington and Texas. With this imagery I hear my symphony swirling with friends, activities, and good food; weather both fair and foul; mountains, rivers, lakes, and oceans; joys and sorrows; seasons, holidays, and homes; painting, pets, and politics; spirituality, stress, and socializing; routines, recreation and laughter.

My Utah score has its own melody and I am learning to dance within the music of today. Though it is different it is just as beautiful as any other. And now… that music is about to step up the tempo as I jump up and get that elusive dinner on the table!