Complete Dancing Abandon

My heart is full. This picture captures the joy of our weekend together and contains a story besides. The accordion is being played by my brother John who is being accompanied with great dancing abandon by his niece Paige Marie. Uncle John and his daughter Sara joined us for the weekend. It was a first meeting for fourteen year old Sara and Paige. Paige fell in love at first sight the way children can with her cousin Sara. When Sara and Paige heard that my youngest son, their Uncle Rory Lee would be joining us for a night their excitement (and mine) was palpable.

And the story…
Years ago when John emigrated to B.C. from Ontario we shared a home for a few years. John had just graduated with a degree in music from Queen’s University in Kingston and was a welcome sight for mine eyes that hadn’t seen anyone from home in the years since I had emigrated to B.C. In those years I had picked up and started learning to play the accordion and was quite looking forward to sharing my musical interests with my brother. Well it didn’t work quite as I had expected…and isn’t that usually the way with expectations.

John plays guitar professionally with a band and having studied the piano at university is and was then an accomplished musician. For the very reasons that I had found myself attracted to the accordion, John wasn’t. In that day of rock and roll the accordion was considered an instrument for geeks and nerds. I loved it, the accordions musical voice is huge and felt about the right size for what I needed to express musically. The jam sessions I had envisioned never coalesced and my disappointment was huge as an accordion voice.

Now let’s fast forward twenty years to a phone call a few summer ago. John was coming for a visit and wanted to know if I would teach him to play the little accordion somebody had given him. After the initial jaw dropping moment when I asked if I’d heard him correctly, I agreed. With laughter galore, in a two week visit, John was playing the instrument with more command than I will ever have and those jams that I had envisioned have come around.

Another picture by way of thanking my friend Jennifer for the beauty second hand store find that Paige is wearing. And last but certainly not least this Affirmation of Peace asks to be shared.

By the Grace of the Divine Feminine,
I am a vessel of peace...
I carry the dove of peace in my heart
I breathe the mantra of peace on my breath
I hold the vision of peace in my mind
I feel the truth of peace in my soul
I shine the light of peace in the world
I am a Vessel of Peace.
Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti