By Ken Boone: She's back, and just in the nick of time! Another episode of the podcast "In Search of Peace & Healing" has been recorded and scheduled for publication! It's been over six months since Celia last recorded an episode of her terrific podcast. As usual, I don't ask a lot of questions, such as her topic, how long does she plan to speak, will she have any guests, etc. I just grab her a bottle of water, turn on her microphone, and wait for her to say a little prayer. As soon as she said "Amen", I hit the record button. Celia's last episode, recorded last August, was devoted to telling her listeners about her first hip replacement surgery. Since the surgery went well, she had very little to complain about. Just the rigors of rehabilitation. Neither one of us knew at the time that we were about to enter a pretty dark period in our lives. Just to recap, I had my medical issues that finally came to a head in September. It took a good two months to get back to a somewhat functional state. Which takes us to November. Celia underwent another hip replacement surgery. Thank goodness that we only have two hips, because the second surgery came with some serious complications. As she began to get into her episode, I noticed a strange thing. Instead of talking about her medical situation, she was talking about mine. Now, I brought up the subject many times on both my blog as well as my weekly podcast. However, I only had my vantage point as a reference. To hear her perspective put things in a new light. I remember her tears when she was pleading with me to purchase a medical device that would notify me if my heart stopped beating. While that debate was quite animated, I can now laugh as she retold the story for her listeners. While my original cardiologist appeared to be very concerned about my prognosis (as was I), all I could think of was the notion that they were running a scam. Don't blame me, my New Yorker came out. They're always trying to get one over on people! Celia's episodes usual consist of her recording two 12-15 minutes blocks, or segments. Toward the end of her first block, she talked briefly about the complications after her second hip replacement. Without telling her story, she suffered a fall in her hospital room caused by an unexplained loss of blood. She also had to go under the knife again to clean out some infection that set in at the incision. During the break we take being recording the blocks, I reflected on my feelings during the most critical time of my illness, and boy was I warped. I knew that my situation was dire, but all I can think about was that all production at Descant had come to a screeching halt. No podcasts (I was producing four different shows), no weekly blog posts, and no periods of magical thinking. When we resumed the session, Celia talked a little more about her health situation. She used that opportunity to express her gratitude that most of her chronic pain has subsided, and that she no longer has to walk with the aid of a walker. That's right... she's the comeback kid who bounced back from almost a dozen surgeries in the past few years! She then deftly pivoted to my recovery. No, not again! She was making me blush! She talked about all the prayers that were sent up on my behalf. And I didn't think people knew who I was. I was always this person's son, that person's brother, the other person's father, and Celia's husband. That's just me suffering from the "Great Imposter Syndrome", and not activating my natural cockiness that's been laying dormant for the past few decades. Because she has a very pleasant speaking voice, my mind sometimes drifts when I record her. It was during the "B Block" drift that it dawned on me that I too was a Comeback Kid. We overcame a lot during the past year. We've overcome a lot during the decade we've been together. The real miracle is that we've resented each other for any hard times. We simply laughed and called them adventures! As she was wrapping up her episode, Celia mentioned that one of the things she looked forward to was for us to resume our music ministry. She always called it one of hope and encouragement, among other adjectives. The format was simple - we would play a few songs, followed by Celia telling her compelling story. Then we'd end things on with an up-tempo number. Easy Peasy! She also said that now, I too have a story to tell. It's one of real-life miracles, like the one that God performed on my behalf. Now if I can just overcome my phony case of stage fright. I have to keep telling myself that if I can write a weekly blog and record a weekly podcast, speaking in front of people shouldn't be too difficult. Besides, I used to do it all the time, back went my performances really sucked! I just finished posting links to the podcast episode, aptly titled "Our Struggles Make Us Stronger". I have a cockpit-styled work space with a corner desk, flanked by my printer sitting atop file cabinet on the left. On the right is my keyboard (the musical kind). Right behind the keyboard is a music stand with the chord changes of another show jingle I recently wrote. All that's left is for Celia to drop in the piano part. I can't wait to press the "record" button and be amazed by what her hands will produce! But wait... there's more!
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About the AuthorAs owner of the Descant Music & Media Group, Ken is a creator and producer of several podcast shows. He is also a music producer, as well as a writer and an accountant for small businesses and nonprofits. Archives
June 2020
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