The song Grateful, by May Erlewine, has become important to us and inspired the name of our blog. And the song came to us before Norah died, even before she became sick. One day a few months ago I listened to May Erlewine’s album, Mother Lion, while the kids were at school and I was home working on some sort of project. That evening, the girls were tired and cranky and altogether ungrateful and, after fussing at them for a while the song came to my mind. I told them to come sit down in the living room with me for a minute. I put the song on and turned it up and we all sat together and just listened in peaceful silence. It was a moment that stuck with me, so much so that the song was still ringing in my ears that first week in the hospital after Norah got sick. We knew that her recovery was going to be a long road, and that she would need endless encouragement. Even in those early days, we were thinking about how to talk to Norah when she came around. We knew she would need to focus on positivity and find things to be grateful for. The lyrics of the song are powerful because they acknowledge sorrow and pain, yet speak an intention to practice gratitude. “I WILL be grateful”

We didn’t realize at that time that we were the ones who would need the song most. During her memorial service, my band joined with several of Norah’s violin teachers to render a stunning version of the song. As we try to find a way forward after her death, we have been told that practicing gratitude is an important. We believe this to be true, even though we don’t feel grateful. We are thankful, of course, for the amazing support and love that has been given to us. And, much like one performs acts of love rather than just feeling love, we will strive to practice gratitude for the good things in our lives.

We have envisioned this website as a travel blog, where we can document this season of our lives. We are hoping that it will be a healthy outlet for us, a record of our summer of being “away together”, and a place for people to feel connected to us and our story.