Music

Music.  I'd like to think, is a universal language.  Like math or science, there is in music truths that are universal.  While a full understanding of music may take years of academic study, there is no requirement to be an A student in order to enjoy it.

Many of us have a favourite song.  We often associate events in our life with tunes that serve as sign-posts as we travel back in time in our memories.  We use music to celebrate, to mourn, to commemorate, to entertain, to relax.... the list goes on.  It can evoke deep emotions, and it can trigger exhilarating highs.

"Where am I going with this?" you may ask.  "What's with the philosophical dissertation about music on a blog dedicated to a diabetic boy?" you say.  It's about "D music".  Not music written in the key of D per se, but rather music that connects with diabetes.

You may have noticed that within the last couple of weeks, I've marginally expanded my HTML abilities and added a music player with a custom list to this blog.  The selections therein are not random or accidental; they, for me, have become D music and one way or another they are now and forever connected in my mind to our son.

• A Little Bit Longer by Jonas Brothers is probably the most obvious choice as it specifically tells a story of a diabetic youth.  I also found a song, not in the playlist.com database, by Tom Kain called Diabetes is Diabolical which takes a slightly more light-hearted look at living with the D.

• Five for Fighting's song, Superman, doesn't in itself deal directly with our subject, but it does express what our little heroes are sometimes bound to be feeling. 

• Through the Long Night by Billy Joel may have been written with something totally different in mind, but the words almost fit perfectly.

• Fireflies may seem like a stretch, however the Owl City single just reminded me of Jonathan at first - light and happy.  I ended up using Fireflies for his JDRF fundraising video found on the "Top Vids" page here.  By sheer coincidence, the text and pictures I arranged seemed to line up directly with the music and lines like "It's hard to say I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep 'Cause everything is never as it seems", "A disco ball is just hanging by a thread", and the echoes of "Please take me away from here" really hit home.  Pretty much the whole song has come to have special meaning, but these were some of the initial lines that started entrenching the song in my heart.

• Martina McBride's video for Anyway is also on the "Top Vids" page.  I first heard this song during a mission at our church.  A guest priest named Fr. Chris Gevaert played it for us one night.  There is a point at 3:38 that just choked me right up, but the whole song I find to be relevant as it speaks to overcoming our fears and going after what is in our hearts, despite the odds.

• Skorpinok may seem like a bizarre choice, but even it has it's significance.  Jonathan loves Transformers and everything to do with them.  When he was in the hospital, he made me watch that first movie at least once a day, sometimes twice, and probably would have let it go a third if I didn't put my foot down.  More than that though, it reminds me of the dangers he faces and the evil D that stalks him.  And as much as I hate to admit it, it reminds me of the guilt I felt for obviously having done something wrong to bring this horrible thing on my beautiful, innocent little boy (that still creeps in from time to time too - not as much anymore though).

And that's how my list of D music was started.  On one hand these songs will now forever be tied to a sad and difficult thing in our lives but on the other, they help keep me grounded and focused on what is really important to us.

If you have your "D music" I'd love to hear what it is and if you don't mind I might add it to my own, please feel free to do the same with mine.