My father could not read music but he played the harmonica. My brother-in-law, a church organist, once took him to the church and together they played hymns which were recorded on a reel-type recorder.

In the late 70's my father died of cancer on January 17th. A few years later my brother-in-law also died. Sixteen years after that my mom was diagnosed with cancer. My sister flew in once a month to help me care for her. She was planning another trip on January 23, but I called her to say that I had a "feeling" that she should come sooner.

She told me that a strange thing had occurred a couple of days earlier. She was going through a storage cupboard when all of a sudden a reel fell out of a box on an overhead shelf and hit her on the head. She contacted her son who worked for a radio studio and asked if they happened to have a reel recorder. He said they did. He planned to play the tape and transfer it to cassette if it turned out to be something she might want to keep.

He called the next day wanting to know if his Grampap had ever played the harmonica while his dad played the organ. He made three copies of the tape and my sister booked a flight and brought one to me. Mom had slipped into a coma right before her arrival.

Mom died on the 17th day of January, seventeen years to the day after my dad. My father played the music at her funeral. I honestly believe he wanted that honor, and that is why that particular reel mysteriously fell out of the box.

Judy
Please respond to john@beyondreligion.com

Posted Oct. 20th, 2006