Correia Sisters in Portland Petals

A rare day of sunshine and cherry blossoms drifting in the breeze. Sue and her sister visiting from California came over to my neighborhood to enjoy strolling through cherry petals before going to see and hear the Aretha Franklin documentary, Amazing Grace (trailer here). It’s true what James Cleveland says in the documentary: Aretha could sing anything. Anything. 

Aretha Franklin was born in 1942, and she became a recording star when she was still a girl, so her voice has resonated as the soundtrack for the lives of my generation, the “voice of the civil rights movement,” the voice of Soul, the voice of the women’s movement. In 1981 when I decided to go for a PhD, I had a vinyl album of Aretha singing Carol Bayer Sager’s song “It’s My Turn” ,and I played it daily for about a year. I’ve met a few other women who played that song over and over till they could believe it. It got us through. I am forever grateful for Aretha Franklin.

I’m also grateful for the thunderous ovation Margie’s words earned on my last Blip. You are all excellent to us.