On an ordinary Thursday night, I’m out with my guy and a group of his old-time college friends celebrating a reunion at a spring-time Boston Pops concert.
Conducted by the magnificent Keith Lockhart, remarkable orchestrated music is made accessible at Boston Symphony Hall as we sit around intimate round tables with drinks, a program, and some of the best music in the world.
Doug LaBrecque singing Ordinary Miracles at Boston Pops.
On this night, the Pops celebrate Marvin Hamlisch, songwriter extraordinaire, who concocted such delicious treats as the music scores for A Chorus Line and The Sting (among many) and Oscar-winning songs like The Way We Were and Nobody Does It Better (remember Carly Simon singing this for James Bond?).
But halfway through the show, Broadway singer Doug LaBrecque arrives on stage declaring, “To me, this song is Marvin’s most brilliant creation.” He opens his mouth and a voice caresses us like a wave of velvet and vanilla, joined by verses that vibrate through my soul. Here’s a version by Barbra Streisand:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C4tHuGs94g
Change can come on tip-toe,
Love is where it starts.
It resides, often hides, deep within our hearts.
And just as pebbles make a mountain, raindrops make a sea,
One day at a time, change begins with you and me.
Ordinary miracles happen all around
Oh my, isn’t this the truth?
How do we sometimes miss these ordinary miracles that surround us daily, assuring us that life is more than bills and business plans; more than back pain and bullies; more than grumpy bosses, traffic jams, and dirty laundry?
The following evening, my daughter and I (and our very significant others) meet for dinner. She and I wear surprised smiles as we check out each other’s attire – unplanned black and white stripes – that bring us many chuckles and “stripes of the same color” jokes from dining strangers.
An ordinary miracle for our extraordinary special mother/daughter time.
What’s your ordinary miracle today?
Do you dare acknowledge each and every one?
roughwighting 
If only we took the time to notice our everyday miracles instead of worrying about our figures, money and keeping our house clean!!!
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I know – I’ll try if you do! :-0
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just simply beautiful, pam…loved it!
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That’s because you are one of my ordinary miracles! xo
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Your posts have been so sweet lately. From now on, when I need a smile I’m comin’ here and puttin’ my feet up.
Oh, and my biggest ordinary miracle today was writing something vagely coherent. Woo!
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I do worry about being too mushy. Like oatmeal, with lots of brown sugar on top. I think I’ll write an edgy one next week. A hardboiled egg with lots of salt and pepper.
A vaguely coherent piece-of-writing. Woo hoo!! Congrats. In that case, your blog posts are examples of ordinary miracles every week (and they’re coherently meaningful, not a vague shadow in any sentence). Even the one with the rat writing….! 🙂
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Aww. Aren’t you nice!
I eagerly look forward to the upcoming edginess!
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Ordinary miracles…I (we) see them every day. But mostly, they don’t register. I think I am more in tune than most. I think my advancing age has something to do with that! I stop and peek out my curtains to watch the sunrise. I stop to look at flowers. I sit and observe what that bee is doing, or that bird, or that squirrel. I stop when I hear a child’s laughter. I talk to most babies in the stores (they are all miracles, the babies). I wonder at the way my grandchildren are developing. Every new day when I can appreciate the roof over my head, the car that starts, the job that awaits me…And my family – that’s my biggest miracle.
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Ahh, you list those ordinary miracles so well. And I agree, I’m not sure I stopped and appreciated them as well when I was in my 20s or 30s. I’m either getting sentimentally soft in my ‘middle (?) years,’ or I’m learning how precious each second is and each look out that window. I prefer to think it’s the latter.
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This is a such a wonderful post. I love the words of that song (and think your outfits are very cute indeed!) 😀
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The outfits were such a surprise! Neither my daughter nor I ever wear black, or stripes, so when we met, both wearing black stripes, we had a good laugh.
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Lovely post Pam 🙂
Xx
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Much thanks!! Having friendly, ‘giving’ readers like you is an ordinary miracle I sooooo appreciate.
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Awwwww, now that’s definitely one for the list! 🙂
Xx
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I don’t recognize ordinary miracles as often as I should. What an excellent reminder this is!
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We probably should remind ourselves every week. But maybe, through our writing, we do…..?
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A nice cup of coffee is always an ordinary miracle for me, but lately I’ve been fascinated by how my lemon seeds have sprouted into little teeny tiny plants.
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Seed to lemon – an incredible miracle, and one I appreciate, since I use a couple of lemons every a week for my tea. 🙂
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I’ve been enjoying the open windows today, the songbirds singing outside, and the contemplation of their existence as small dinosaurs who didn’t go extinct 65 million years ago. Such ordinary little miracles!
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Well, actually, those birds are extraordinary miracles to me. They’re not extinct yet they look so prehistoric, don’t they (particularly pelicans)? And now with late spring, they love to sing a song at 5 a.m. and prove they are not extinct at all!!!!
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