My Life Goes On

Naples High, Class of 1967

The song “How Can I Keep from Singing?” runs through my head. 

          My life goes on in endless song

          Above earth’s lamentations,

          I hear the real, though far-off hymn

          That hails a new creation. 

The Rolling Stones
One World Concert for WHO

Our lives go on, changed and unchanged. We are talking with our family and friends more, we are being with them less, actually not at all. Zoom is our new medium. Our phones, tables, and TVs are full of faces in black boxes. My high school girlfriends, the Rolling Stones, the Metropolitan Opera orchestra, talk and play in my living room in little squares.

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra for On-Line Gala

It reminded me of a set of paintings made by an artist when we were homeschooling. (which, by the way, is how everyone is being educated now, but in the 80’s and 90’s was a rare phenomenon.) We organized an art co-op with 4 other families, whose beliefs ran from a multi-generational family who followed an Indian guru who eventually convinced them all to sell their property in Broward County and move to North Carolina to an evangelical family who didn’t believe in evolution. I’d say we were in the middle of the continuum but it was more like a set of points radiating out.

The second year, I led a unit on painting, using Drawing From the Right Side of the Brain for my guide.  As part of our weekly meetings, we visited an oncologist who was also an artist who painted portraits of HIV victims as they were then known. At the time this was a deadly, scary disease. In fact, when a woman approached our UU congregation about attending and bringing her HIV-infected foster babies, we had to do some soul searching. She had been turned away from another church. Easy to think now that we should have welcomed her with open arms, living up to our professed values, but our younger son was 18 months old and was going to be in the nursery Sunday mornings with her children. Our solution was to have Grant volunteer as did several of our gay members. Only time we hadn’t begged to get nursery workers.

The oncologist/artist painted portraits of each of the children in our co-op plus a couple of the younger sibs. Although she wouldn’t give us the paintings, she did made a collage of them, with black borders between each child’s face. A Zoom view from time before time.

We were so afraid when HIV first came into our consciousness. Could you get it from the air, from toilet seats, from them, whoever them were? Now it seems to be one more thing out there for which we need to be aware, but not afraid. No longer victims of, but rather people living with AIDS, because it is a chronic disease rather than a death sentence.

         Through all the tumult and the strife
          I hear its music ringing,
          It sounds and echo in my soul.
          How can I keep from singing?

Songwriters: Eithne Ni Bhraonain / Nicky Ryan / Roma Ryan