Day 3 - 330 -- Life and Loss

At the end of a long tiring week, the news that I awoke to seemed difficult to process. Florence Henderson had passed away. She is best known as the mother of the Brady Bunch, Carol Brady. The show aired for about 4 seasons -- when seasons were longer than they are today -- which was more than enough time to become the ideal mother -- the mother she thought we all were looking for.

It seems that I am now in the demographic that recognizes more people who pass -- somehow when we weren't looking we became "that" generation. People who played beloved characters or sang our favourite music are leaving this world. There is a true feeling of sadness that can turn to actual grief over these losses -- things I never really understood in the younger years. Given that many age groups are in the workplace, there may not always be people who feel the loss that the Boomers do at times like this. For this reason, I've found social media can be a place to remember and 'wake' a person, if you will. There are a number of people I know that are in my age group that are easily found in the Web 2.0 (or 3.0 depending on your frame of reference) world. Again, this is another interesting aspect of the community constructed online.

Florence Henderson had a Broadway career long before becoming Mrs. Brady. I've chosen a song sung by her to celebrate a life lost today. She had training from the nuns in high school to sing  Gregorian chants and masses in Latin. Her phrasing is impeccable and the power in the voice truly astonishing. Enjoy!

My Love -- Florence Henderson (from Hollywood Palace 1967)