Shazam and Other Realizations
S has a rule in our family: no making fun of moms.
So I will not draw your attention to the hand sanitizer strapped to the front of my mom’s fanny pack during a tour of Bangkok’s Grand Palace. Instead, I will mention that I was astonished to learn over dinner recently that my Mom uses — loves — the Shazam iPhone app.
It’s an app that she and millions of others use to identify names of songs on the radio or, in our case, through a PA system in a restaurant bar in Bangkok.
Picture us a few nights ago, enjoying music around a table for six … having a sort of Shazam-Off, whipping out our iPhones when there was a nice piece of music in the mix.
Mom’s use of Shazam is not super surprising. I remember countless car trips to and from school events and sports practices and weekend activities when she and I would enjoy pop radio together. It’s from her that I learned to sing harmony. (Hall and Oates is currently playing in the hotel atrium. “Sara Smile” was one of our favorites.)
Singing harmony is one of Mom’s gifts.
Her harmony, though, is not just the singing kind. More broadly, she takes life as it comes … and makes something beautiful along with it.
Consider this: Mom barely missed a step when S and I explained how we’d forgotten to secure a Vietnam visa … on the eve of our flight to Ho Chi Minh City.
S and I commenced a furious effort to retain “a guy in Vietnam” who could secure the relevant documents. On a Sunday morning during a holiday weekend. (We sent this guy many hundreds of dollars via Paypal. He received the money and, before an expected wait while he did whatever he needed to do to, he wrote “There are so many man in your family :).”)
Along the way, E lost a tooth … and someone in our group would eventually dry heave in an airplane barf bag.
We eventually received the documents and the Vietnam visa. My mom carried on alongside us … not a worry in her eyes … singing harmony … making something beautiful of our time together … and offering all the hand sanitizer anyone could ever need.
Good stuff
Oh I love this post! Jim, you’re such a gifted writer.
Love this post – and the priceless picture at the end!
Wow, your mom is a treasure, Jim. What a beautiful example she is.
Love the “no making fun of Moms” rule. Maybe I’ll instigate that at our house. :)