Our Perfect Opera Nights - Time to Say Goodbye

In February, while George was at war with cancer, a special friend sent me a link to a video along with a message: “I heard this song,  Ed Sheeran Perfect Symphony with Andrea Bocelli  and want to dedicate it to you and George. I can picture you guys dancing barefoot together in the kitchen, having a glass of wine and holding on to each other.” She knew us well. 

Perfect lyrics. Perfect voices.

George and I were raised to appreciate a wide variety of music genres. Our depression-era parents introduced us to the Big Bands and swing, which fed George’s future love affair with the trumpet. We grew up on 50’s and 60’s rock and roll, and played the music of the 70’s as the soundtrack of our early years as young lovers. Jazz and blues found their way into our lives as well, and an occasional country song always reminded George of his mother.

My Kahuna and I didn’t need a date night to find a reason to turn up the volume and take a spin – or slow dance. With the right music, he would take my hand and our dance party of two began. Slow dances in his arms. I felt loved there. Happy. It was perfect.

One musical style can’t be traced to either family’s catalog of vinyl that spun on the hi-fi’s of our childhood. Yet it became a special part of the George and Paula story - Classical and Opera. The Three Tenors and Ravel’s Bolero, among others, became the musical background for some very special evenings…

Opera Nights, we called them. Candlelight. Wine or snifters of brandy. Speakers cranked up with the music of full symphony orchestras, and a blanket by the fire.  With each CD selection George would “conduct” the orchestra, throwing his head back in complete rapture, as the symphony translated a series of notes on a page into mesmerizing music. He would educate me on the placement of each instrument group on the stage (his beloved trumpets in the rear due to their overpowering volume). We listened carefully to identify the instrument added to each repetitive melody of Ravel's Bolero and felt the power and sensuality of the crescendo. It was perfect.

Our Opera Nights continued with arias sung by the likes of Luciano Pavarotti, Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo. But our favorite Opera Night offering was Time to Say Goodbye, with Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman. As candles flickered, we lay together, not understanding anything but the one lyric in English, yet completely under the spell of the passion expressed through their voices. Some of our most romantic nights-out were a night-in with music and dancing in the dark. They were perfect.

Our Kahuna size Christmas tree. 

We allowed our opera night ritual to slip away the past few years. We had begun a new tradition two years ago that was equally romantic and memorable. Under the illumination of our Christmas tree, with the gentle crackle of the fireplace logs, we spread a blanket and lay in each other’s arms as Christmas music played. Bing Crosby's White Christmas was George’s all-time favorite holiday song, and it became our dance worthy moment that special Christmas. It was perfect.

The memories of these intimate, simple-yet-extraordinary moments are precious. As much as my heart breaks that there will be no more Opera Nights – no more magical Christmas moments, I hold tightly to the memories, and close my eyes trying to recapture their intimacy. 

If I can share a piece of advice to my readers it would be this: create your special traditions. Make them yours. Make them memorable. Make time for them. Make them PERFECT! You never know when it will be time to say goodbye.

Footnote: As I made the final edits to this post before publishing, Perfect by Ed Sheeran began playing on my Pandora station. I love #KahunaSigns. Perfect!