Last night a friend and I went to Uno’s Pizzeria, mowed down a ‘Shroom pizza and then attended a Symphony Pops concert where the featured performers were four guys impersonating the Beatles. The crowd was almost all Baby Boomers or older. The Boomers were itchin’ to get rockin’ in the aisles, but we refrained. The show was called the Classical Mystery Tour and my friend Amy and I had a great time. (Sunbonnet Sue, see her comment about "gettin' by with a little help from your friends!")


Listening to the Beatles songs reminded me of a video I had created about 4 years ago for a workshop keynote. I used all Beatles songs as the backdrop for the photos and occasional video clips that highlighted my less-than-ideal adoption journey. This morning, I watched that video again and played it for Beth and Dora. The lyrics to the songs are so appropriate, I am going to share them with you, and encourage you to drag out your Beatles music and listen to them again.


The video opened with the title declaring … Love is NOT all you need! but with this music playing ...

All you need is love.
All you need is love.
All you need is love, love.
Love is all you need.

Next, I showed snippets of life with my difficult kids when they were younger … and the music said:

You say yes, I say no.
You say stop and I say go go go, oh no.
You say goodbye and I say hello
Hello hello
I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello

I say high, you say low.
You say why and I say I don't know, oh no.
You say goodbye and I say hello

A segment showing Tommy struggling had this music playing in the background:

Hey Jude, don't make it bad.
Take a sad song and make it better.
Remember to let her into your heart,
Then you can start to make it better.
Hey Jude, don't be afraid.
You were made to go out and get her.
The minute you let her under your skin,
Then you begin to make it better.
And anytime you feel the pain, hey Jude, refrain,
Don't carry the world upon your shoulders.
For well you know that it's a fool who plays it cool
By making his world a little colder.

Moving on to Amy when she was about the same age as Dora and Beth, and had her perpetual frown or the fake smile plastered on her face, the music declared:

Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been
Lives in a dream
Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door
Who is it for?
All the lonely people
Where do they all come from ?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong ?

I wanted to demonstrate that our family was not all about chaos and misery, so there was a couple minutes of video showing Stephanie doing awesome gymnastics routines, and Kyle playing baseball. The music declared:

Baby's good to me, you know,
She's happy as can be, you know,
She said so.
I'm in love with her and I feel fine.
Baby says she's mine, you know,
She tells me all the time, you know,
She said so.
I'm in love with her and I feel fine.
I'm so glad that she's my little girl.
She's so glad, she's telling all the world.
She's in love with me and I feel fine

And …

A love like ours
Could never die
As long as I
Have you near me

Bright are the stars that shine
Dark is the sky
I know this love of mine
Will never die
And I love her

Moving on to Amy’s adolescence, I was still beating my head against the wall and making no progress at all. These lyrics were perfect:

Try to see it my way,
Do I have to keep on talking till I can't go on?
While you see it your way,
Run the risk of knowing that our love may soon be gone.
We can work it out,
We can work it out.
Think of what you're saying.
You can get it wrong and still you think that it's alright.
Think of what I'm saying,
We can work it out and get it straight, or say good night.
We can work it out,
We can work it out.
Life is very short, and there's no time
For fussing and fighting, my friend.
I have always thought that it's a crime,
So I will ask you once again.
Try to see it my way,
Only time will tell if I am right or I am wrong.
While you see it your way
There's a chance that we may fall apart before too long.
We can work it out,
We can work it out.

The video moves on to Beth joining the family, and there are some incredibly poignant scenes of me rocking her, with her looking up at me with her big, beautiful eyes. There are also clips of her crying … The music seems to have been written for our kids …

If I fell in love with you would you promise to be true,
And help me understand?
‘Cos I’ve been in love before, and I found that love was more,
Than just holding hands,
If I give my heart to you,
I must be sure from the very start,
That you would love me more than her.
If I trust in you, oh please,
Don’t run and hide,
If I love you too, oh please don’t hurt my pride like her.
‘Cos I couldn’t stand the pain,
And I would be sad if our new love was in vain.

The video ends with “Yellow Submarine” and clips of our family emerging from the pain. Gotta love the Beatles, right?


Photo Credit