Before I get to Mr. Nelson, this morning deserves attention.  I sat in Jaggers on the Vrijdagmarkt square in Gent, enjoying my croissant, yogurt and granola.  I talked to Sabrina, another regular, and watched her French bulldog Diva visit newcomers for a nuzzle.  I smiled a lot because the doggie knew how to connect!

As I sipped my latté on the terrace, a young police officer rolled by on her bicycle.  She raised a hand and a smile to the employee setting up tables in the restaurant beside us.  And then she was gone.  Only a moment of contact, but contact nonetheless. 

Both experiences lifted me.

***

I love Willie Nelson.  His baritone voice has a unique vibration that floods my insides.  Couple that with tender lyrics and I am touched.  The songwriter’s words seep unimpeded into my soul, helping me truly know the humanity of the person sung about.

And that’s what I want in life, to know the other person, to feel their joys and sorrows.  To have them get that I am with them.  Not an opponent or a ghost passing on the street … but a brother.

When I sing, I want the audience members to feel other lives.  Willie helps me here.  And he helps me choose what songs I will learn and share.

And so we come to “Always On My Mind”.  I feel the sadness of loving less than fully, of being inattentive to the beloved, of falling way short of my intention.

Thanks largely to your rendition, Willie, I will learn the song, and sing it at open mic sessions in February … God willing.

Listen, please …

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=fA-kdZ5dbYk&si=XPUfP6AhYbwc7jD8