“Who won the game?” The ICU hospital room was hushed as the young football player, recently awakened from a coma, penned those words on a notepad. “Yes, Lamar,” replied the attending physician, Dr. Timothy Pritts. “You did. You won the game of life.”
My husband and I were watching the Buffalo Bills-New England Patriots game at Cincinnati on January 2, when the unthinkable happened. 24 year old safety Damar Hamlin suffered a blow to his chest and went into cardiac arrest. Immediate CPR and defibrillation by medical personnel saved his life. In the fifteen minutes from the time of his collapse to the time he was removed from the field by ambulance, we witnessed a remarkable sight. Players from both teams fell to their knees in combined support for the life of their teammate. For many long minutes, the country held its collective breath. Afterward, columnist Robert Azzi said this:” Monday night Damar Hamlin died, I believe, and was resurrected , not just because CPR and oxygen were administered, but because of those who knelt alongside believed in the American Dream, believed in the power of prayer…”
A few days later, on the other side of the country, off the coast of Dana Point, California, there was another new beginning.
Passengers on Captain Dave’s Dolphin and Whale Watching Safari witnessed the highly unusual, “once in a lifetime opportunity” of seeing a pregnant gray whale giving birth. Thrilled passengers and crew watched in amazement as the calf emerged from its 40 to 50 foot mother, then swam up to rub itself against her, the two nuzzling their faces together. The birth was especially sweet and poignant, since the gray whale population is in sharp decline.
That January began on these optimistic notes may be somewhat symbolic. January gets its name from Janus, the god of beginnings and transitions in Roman mythology. Thus, January symbolizes the willingness to embrace change in life.
On a personal note, my husband and I bought a second property this month, a lovely house near the Delaware shore. But with the responsibilities of ownership comes the hope that the place will be a haven of peace for family and friends. For as American Transcendental poet Ralph Waldo Emerson once said,
“A house is made of walls and beams, a home is made of love and dreams.”
But along with beginnings, come endings. As the month progressed, we got the news of the passing of another rock legend. David Crosby, that flamboyant, flawed, frenetic, yet talented musician, was dead at 81. Originally a founding member of that iconic band, The Byrds, Crosby’s music encompassed the musings of a generation.
It’s funny how a song, not heard for years, can quickly return you to your youth. The Byrd’s “Mr. Tambourine Man” is such a song. Crosby couldn’t take credit for writing it, ( that was that other musical genius, Bob Dylan), but he did arrange the soaring melodies.
“Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
I’m not sleepy and there is no place I’m going to
Hey Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle morning, I’ll come following you…”
What exactly is a “jingle jangle morning”, I always wondered. Apparently, the jingle jangle is the sound the tambourine makes, and the “morning” inspires ideas of renewal. Very January.
After leaving the Byrds, Crosby joined with friends to create the famous Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. They hit their stride with the award winning album, Deja Vu. While I don’t hold with Crosby’s belief in reincarnation:” We have all been here before”, several of the tunes display sweet simplicity and a lasting message, particularly “Teach Your Children”: “You, who are on the road, must have a code that you can live by, and so, become yourself, because the past is just a goodbye…” and “Our House”: “Our house is a very fine house with two cats in the yard, life used to be so hard, now everything is easy cause of you…”
If only life could be that easy, and that predictable!
So, David Crosby has passed, but his music will live on.
This January, football players, gray whales, beach houses, and musicians- all had a tale to tell.
As January comes to a close, I bear in mind the words of Mother Teresa:
“Yesterday is gone, tomorrow has not yet begun. We only have today. Let us begin.”
Or, in David Crosby’s words from his masterpiece, “Carry On”:
“Rejoice, rejoice, we have no choice but to carry on.