Luca

Our regular Monday with Luca.  This is him when I was dropping him off back at home, after our lovely day together. Uploaded straight from the phone, no time for any edits today.
Of all the 3 grandchildren, he is the one who responds most obviously  to music.  His face lights up, in response to singing, messing about with our keyboard or playing recorded music.  When we sing (even my tuneless efforts), he pauses and reflects and then coos back.
So I've been experimenting with a range of options for him: some harp music from Catrin Finch  (for calm car journeys), the soundtrack from the London production of Girl from the North Country, the McGarriggles. Richard and I are revisiting our lifetime music favourites with him.  It all reminds me of a cheesy but much-loved (by me) country song by Brandi Carlile - worth finding and listening to. It's called 'The Mother' but could equally be 'The Parent' - or 'Grandparent':

The Mother
"Welcome to the end of being alone inside your mind
You're tethered to another and you're worried all the time
You always knew the melody but you never heard it rhyme
She's fair and she is quiet, Lord, she doesn't look like me
She made me love the morning, she's a holiday at sea
The New York streets are busy as they always used to be
But I am the mother of Evangeline


The first things that she took from me were selfishness and sleep
She broke a thousand heirlooms I was never meant to keep
She filled my life with color, canceled plans, and trashed my car
But none of that was ever who we are
Outside of my windows are the mountains and the snow
I'll hold you while you're sleeping and I wish that I could go
All my rowdy friends are out accomplishing their dreams
But I am the mother of Evangeline


And they've still got their morning paper and their coffee and their time
And they still enjoy their evenings with the skeptics and the wine
Oh, but all the wonders I have seen, I will see a second time
From inside of the ages through your eyes


You are not an accident where no one thought it through
The world has stood against us, made us mean to fight for you
And when we chose your name we knew that you'd fight the power too
You're nothing short of magical and beautiful to me
Oh, I'll never hit the big time without you
So they can keep their treasure and their ties to the machine
'Cause I am the mother of Evangeline
They can keep their treasure and their ties to the machine
'Cause I am the mother of Evangeline.