Song Without End

So you ask, did Zelda sing at our wedding?  The answer is yes and no.

She didn’t actually sing at the wedding ceremony, but no one else did either.  The only music was organ music provided by Herman Berlinski, an old man at the time, who gave us one of his albums as a wedding present.

But she held forth at the party after the wedding, commanding quite an audience as she launched into “Sunrise, Sunset” and other Fiddler songs.  I was glad we let her have this moment of glory.

She became an instant friend of my gay friend Eric, the piano player.  Upon learning what bar he was playing at in the evening, she enticed one of my old boyfriends to go with her to hear Eric play and apparently ended up singing in the bar as well.  That was Zelda.

Her usual audience back in Chicago was the old soldiers at the Disabled American Veterans home.  She was a regular on their volunteer entertainment list.

To the very end, she remembered the words to all those songs better than she remembered her family members.  I think they were her constant companions throughout her long life, unencumbered by a spouse or children.

It’s too bad we didn’t arrange for someone to sing some of her favorite songs at her funeral today, which will be somewhat brief and solemn I’m sure.