Mardi Gras, just not in New Orleans

It's not "Fat Tuesday" yet, but it's coming... meanwhile we are taking a long-deserved week of vacation from school.  This morning is our first real day off, because I had my last of a run of several concerts yesterday.  It seems that the restrictions on musical performances are relaxing more and more here in Belgium, which is great to see, and there are several important projects coming up in the next few months.

Today Maggie is trying out a new trial gym membership with a colleague and friend, and I have some time to myself, to write, and then plan to taking advantage of the nice sunny weather to go out and have a run with Yoshi.

It's been quite a busy period for me recently.  Not just recently: I haven't written a blog since last July!  But to illustrate my recent workload, here was my schedule from a couple of weeks ago:

And here is the schedule for this week:

As you can imagine, I am really enjoying the thought of all that blank space on the agenda.

Since Christmas vacation ended we've had a ton of work to do at school.  I took on some extra music classes for a colleague on maternity leave; the musical "13" started up, and after a rehearsal-free December (following the closing of "Grease") we were back at it again, with Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays occupied with auditioning and casting, followed by regular rehearsals.

But what has occupied me so much this year has been my Dad.

visiting in late October 2021

As you no doubt have heard, my father's illness progressed quite rapidly in January, and on the 5th of February I flew back to see him.  It was lucky that I did, because we were able to spend his last hours together.  All of his siblings were able to come and see him during that Saturday and say their goodbyes.  He passed away peacefully late on Sunday evening, with my mom and sisters and me in the room with him.

Here is the online obituary in case you haven't seen it:
https://www.arbormemorial.ca/burke/obituaries/larry-zadow/78692

His obituary was also printed in the Eganville Leader, and in the Belleville newspaper:
https://intelligencer.remembering.ca/obituary/larry-zadow-1084378524

The week that followed his passing was spent together coccooned in the house with my Mom and my sisters, making plans for the funeral, writing the obituary, planning the service, and writing the eulogy.  I welcomed this week of quietly being together, and it helped us all start to process our loss, to think about Dad, and to imagine how we might begin to move forward into the future.

We had visitations in the funeral home on Thursday, and were comforted by many friends and extended family members.  The funeral was held on Friday in the local United church that we had attended as children, led by Reverend Ed Bentley, minister Emeritus of the congregation and an old family friend.  Fortunately we were allowed to have about seventy people attend in person, and around the same number watched the livestream.  Maggie and Malcolm and Duncan were able to participate by doing the readings, which they recorded from home in Belgium, and they also watched the livestream (which is still available for viewing here).

One of the things that helped me write the eulogy was to ask as many people as I could to describe my father, as if they were introducing him to a stranger.  Here's what they told me, represented as one of those "word clouds", where the more people used a word, the larger it appears.  It is comforting to know that Dad was such a positive presence in the life of so many people.

The day after the funeral I flew back home and had the remainder of Sunday to rest and get over my jet lag, and then it was right back into the bustle of work.  I also had two quite challenging Bach Cantatas to prepare for the following weekend, and I managed to schedule some personal rehearsal for those in and around my other activities.

Then things got a little crowded: I received a call mid-week asking if I could replace a sick colleague in Messiah.  It looked like the schedule would work, but I would have to sing it three nights in a row, and squeeze in the rehearsals for "13" and for the Bach concert during the same period.  In the end I managed to sing all the performances, but it was super tiring, and after the Sunday Bach performance it was back to work again on Monday morning.

This weekend just passed, I had two more cantatas to learn for another project, this time in Bruges, but fortunately for me they were relatively straightforward and I had Saturday off to rest.  Now that that last concert has finished I am happy to finally relax!

It is quite fitting that one of the first things that I performed after returning home to Belgium was Cantata BWV 83, with this text, here in English translation:

Lord, now let your servant depart in peace as you have said.

What seems to us so dreadful from our human point of view

is for us an entrance into life.

Death is an end

of this time and its troubles

a pledge, that the Lord has given to us

as a sign that his intentions are kindly

and that after the struggle has been brought to an end

he will bring us to his peace.

And since our saviour now

is the comfort of our eyes, the refreshment of our heart

there is no wonder that a heart forgets its fear of death!

The heart can joyfully proclaim:

 

For my eyes have seen the salvation, which you have prepared for all the nations.

(Luke 2 :29-31)

Here is a good recording, of the excellent German bass Klaus Mertens, conducted by Ton Koopman.