From this Papa too. Yes. Me too.

~ Live & Learn

My favorite space is the living room, by the fireplace. It’s warm and serene, and covered in adobe tiles made by an artist friend of mine when he was in his 90s. I practice there when I’m not on tour.

Perhaps my most beloved possession is a framed note on the wall that my father wrote to me in his 90s. He didn’t communicate well with his kids. In the note, he wrote, “Dearest Joanie, I love it when you visit me. From your Papa, with love.” It pleases me that he finally wrote me something nice.

~ Joan Baez, from  How Joan Baez Found Her Voice (wsj.com, Feb 27, 2018)

 

24 thoughts on “From this Papa too. Yes. Me too.”

  1. Awwww…
    My Papa too. He never communicated well verbally. But he writes beautifully. The dearest to my heart is a dedication he wrote on a book. Asked me not to read it til I left Montréal. I should frame that too ❤

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  2. And on my wall a framed picture from a surprise 40th b’day party…everyone in attendance signed and the words from my father “more loved you cannot be”. I look at his comments daily and only wish he were here to tell me himself. Oh, and the words underneath from my mother? “Only by your mom, baby”. Was our household a bit nutty? Oh yeah. Was it pretty damn awesome? No doubt.

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  5. Moving, and an object lesson in the power our words (or lack thereof) can have on others. Every day I try to tell someone I love that I love them. Never know how much they may need to hear just that right then…

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      1. I know it’s important to me. In fact, I keep a ‘Feel Good File’ on my computer where I save emails of kind things people have said to me or words of encouragement that people have sent me. I read through it when I’m feeling down, or shaky, or in doubt and it bolsters me. I even have a couple of notes in there from you. 😊 Being kind takes so little effort, but it can mean the world….

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  7. Oh, Joan Baez — I so love her music. When I was a teenager, I had a copy of her songbook and learnt as many of her songs as I could. It was my English teacher at school who first introduced her to me, as she used to sometimes bring a guitar to lessons and sing us some of her songs, which she considered true poetry 🙂 Needless to say, she was one of my favourite teachers.

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  11. I say it often: Kindness breeds kindness, goodness breeds goodness. But it also has to be said (written) and heard…. This is so sad in its beauty – and so very late!

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