Not much has been going on with our trivia team lately in terms of getting out and competing in vain at bars for prizes! Partly, it’s not for a lack of trying – and partly because..well, ya know how some people like to say “life happens” as a disclaimer for things not going according to their plan?

Sadly, death happens, too. A little over a week ago, my dear father-in- law died following a surgical procedure 😪 Some nights, when we do manage to get out, trivia is the last thing on our minds. It’s been really rough processing all of this, especially for my husband – who f—-ing lost his dad! His grief has been beyond anguish. I’m trying my best to comfort and support him as much as I can, but I’m grieving too! It’s tough to be supportive when you need some support too. My boss at work was great, she asked if it was OK to hug me!

I know, that as Morrissey from The Smiths would sing, “These Things Take Time.” It’s not uncommon for me to turn to music to help me with grief. A few years ago, when my close friend Archie died of cancer, listening to songs by The Cure helped me work through my grief. When a great-great aunt died in 2011, listening to Pink Floyd’s Great Gig in the Sky was…just right (she was a semi-professional musician). When I learned of Prince’s death in 2016, I listened to the entire Purple Rain album in my darkened basement.

Shortly after learning that my father-in-law died, I played “Taps” on my piano (he was a career Army guy). It was almost too much for my husband to hear. I also queued up some songs from his dad’s teenage era of music from The Coasters, Yakkety Yak was one. My husband said he remembered listening to plenty of his dad’s favorite oldies tunes on cassette when they went on road trips!

On this recent “Eclipse Day,” going out and joining huge crowds of day drinkers and future eye doctor visitors in Ohio was the farthest thing from my mind. Instead, after I got out of work that day, I simply enjoyed watching the darkening skies from the comfort of my living room – mused that the vampires would come for us (lol) – and listened to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon album in its entirety. I didn’t even try holding back my emotions during Great Gig in the Sky. The guest female vocalist Clare Torry sings no actual words, but damn if she doesn’t sound like she’s in grief herself…

Trivia, she was only paid a standard session musician fee for her work on the album initially. It wasn’t until 2005 when the band gave her vocal composition credits (thanks to an out of court settlement). All pressings after 2005 now give her and Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright music shared music composition credits on the song. She deserves this IMHO, I mean she and Richard Wright brought this song to life. Ironic, since the song is about…death.

As for us, we’ll eventually get back to trivia games when we can. We’re joining a friend’s team for a virtual music trivia game later this week. We’ve been playing some music bingo games. I’ve tried getting a third player in the mix for live games a few times, but our schedules just don’t mesh. Life happens?

My husband and I have a cabin trip planned at the end of this month. Boy do we need a weekend in nature! We took a nice walk in a local cemetery yesterday and it was just wonderful (no judging, cemeteries are a great place to take walks if you want to avoid crowds of living people and want some quiet time). This cemetery (Highland Cemetery in Ypsilanti MI) is actually very pretty…

A local historian hosts nighttime lantern tours of this cemetery in October, they are definitely a cool way to learn about local history!