All the Best to You - by the Buckley Family
Each year our family creates a card to mail out to friends, based on a song written by Dave, and through the past few years, recorded by everyone.
This year’s project took a little longer than usual, and we will begin mailing out the cards this week.
This year’s song was inspired one morning in early December, sitting in the car at around 7 a.m., waiting to pick up Anca after a busy night’s shift at Victoria Hospital. It’s a hopping time of the morning. The 12 hour shifts for R.N.s, R.P.Ns, P.S.Ws and so many others changes at 7, meaning that staff for the new shift arrive on their units at 6:45, while the departing crew remain until 7:15, in order to give and take reports on what is going on with each patient. At the same time, there are supply vehicles arriving, patients and their helpers arriving or departing, and a whole lot of people walking around, and given the current situation, everyone is wearing masks.
As I was leaving our home, about 10 minutes earlier, a morning dove was ‘hooing’, which seemed somewhat mournful and unusual, given the time of the year.
The chords and rhythms came from a simple pattern that I had jotted down a few days previous, waiting for an online music lesson with my niece’s daughter’s guitar lesson.
When I got home that morning, I wrote out a melody and the first draft of the words, thinking of all of those who were caught up in their own responsibilities and daily schedules in the midst of such a relatively dangerous position they found themselves to be in .
A few days later came a blast of snow, and sitting at my desk, looking out the window, there were 2 beautiful rose blossoms that were holding their own amongst the flurries. I was writing a second draft of the words, and the image was somewhat haunting and symbolic, it felt, of Covid times.
Words changed and were finalized in early January. Then became the process of sharing the words and music with our family members and asking for them to add musical tracks for a recording, as well as artwork for the card. The project took a little longer than expected, with our goal of having it completed before the end of winter accomplished by a few days.
There are so many people that make such important contributions in the lives of others, and one cannot but be aware, and so very grateful for this, many times each day, especially when life itself seems so fragile.
All the Best to You
It was early morning
And the snow was falling
On the frosted flowers
By the the window pane
Bringing thoughts of how
We’re in this time right now
When much we took for granted
Is no more the same
2) There’s so many moments
From the past remembered
Yet perhaps there’s never
Been the words of how
You’ve made things much brighter
And our burdens lighter
With the kindness that
We sure remember now
Ch) All the best to you
May these words be true
In each coming day
Life will send our way
And with strength renewed
We will see things through
Full of shining hope
For all to see
3) Up ahead and near
Most of what we fear
Will be gone in ways
That will soon be shown
So we’ll trust while waiting
With these worries abating
There will come the freedom
Like past times we’ve known
Ch) All the best to you
May these words be true
In each coming day
Life will send our way
And with strength renewed
We will see things through
Full of shining hope
For all to see