Pied Piper

I went to a funeral today. It was for my friend Sue’s father, Pete. I really didn’t know Pete that well. We first met at Sue’s engagement party 15 years ago and, as I was a member of the wedding party, I got to know him a little better at the wedding…but not really well.

The funeral was well attended. Pete had a large family - nine kids and an exponential number of grandchildren. There were personal friends, of course, but what struck me, as I met people before the service, was the large number of people who didn’t know Pete that well…but they knew his children and grandchildren, and those mourners were there for them.

Sue delivered a eulogy in which she fondly recalled her father singing “Lazy Bones” to his brood on a Saturday morning to roust them out of bed to eat the breakfast he had lovingly prepared for them. That musical reference struck a chord (no pun intended).

Life is like a song. Everything we learn and experience creates harmony or dissonance in the song that is our life. Good influences create beautiful sounds which draw people to us. Bad influences, like bad music, push people away. And the true measure of a successful song (life) is that the people you meet walk away singing your song.

Pete’s life was a melody. He learned it note by note as he grew. And the melody was beautiful and compelling. And his family and his friends heard it and were compelled to follow along. And they incorporated the melody into their own melodies which became more complex and still lovelier. And we all heard it…and we all followed.