Naturally, there is a bit of a story to explain the reason for this.

Today’s song has two reasons for being chosen. The first is that my mother would sing this to me when I was little and I in turn have sung it to my own children many times over the years. It’s a song of hope. Hope that was re-affirmed the first time when in the early seasons of ER, Susan’s sister Chloe sang it in the delivery room when they put her newborn baby in her arms. So for that reason it is being dedicated to my boys, Baby Boy in particular today. Life isn’t easy 100% of the time. Not for anyone. But we will all “learn to fly.”

The second is that the just prior to this one reminds me of a conversation my best friend and I have frequently. We are close in age and we each have 4 whose ages are very close to be in tandem with each other. As I said in the comments below…We came of age during the “Self Help - Codependency Is Evil Era.”

Now to add to that.

The media and doctors drilled into us that our upbringings were all, in some way dysfunctional and then we end up facing parenthood scared to even try to use what our parents used that worked. I wouldn’t be able to survive being a parent if I hadn’t come to the realization that for most parents, they do the best they know how with the tools that they have from their own generation. We will screw up our kids in one way or another, it is inevitable and they will tell us about it, repeatedly when hormones usher in the teen years. I think the key is finding a way to convey to them as they grow that you are doing everything possible not to screw up. On good days, the kids know that and my hope is that it will one day make the inevitable empty nest a comfortable one.

Not ever having been a fan of The Beatles, (You try living with a first name your mother took from one of their songs.) I really prefer Sarah’s version.

Black Bird

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All you life
You were only waiting for this moment to be free

Blackbird fly, blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night
Blackbird fly, blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
You were only waiting for this moment to arise