Making a deal with God is rarely successful, but then, who or what determines success? Okay, God is the story of myself as a young woman and the father I so admired. The God character is the omniscient eavesdropper and occasional consultant.
OKAY, GOD starts “in medias res.” My 48-year-old father is having holes drilled in his head. It’s 1968 and the medical profession is not yet able to accurately diagnose Alzheimer’s. After this rather barbaric surgery, I find his WWII memorabilia – pictures he took at Auschwitz and his Bronze Star. The subsequent chapters fill in his story and mine; two people determined to experience as much of life and everything in it as possible. Prejudice, assassinations, demonstrations, and competitions entwine with the everyday pursuit of happiness to tell the true, poignant story of an American Dream. My father may not have lived to see its fulfillment, but he lived long enough to know some of us would.
Here, in my voice, is the first chapter of the story. I chose to play Brahms’s Intermezzo in A major as incidental music.
Growing up means saying goodbye to a first friend and hello to a new home. True to her roots, my young mother saves our trees. I share my quiet father’s sadness as we mourn the passing of a matriarch. To mark these transitions I’ve selected my composition “A Golden Ball,” from The Frog Prince, and excerpts from Cavalleria Rusticana by composer Pietro Mascagni.
Jan Callner 