August 04, 2018

Music and my youth

August 04, 2018/ Olivia Searcy

Never come between a girl and her music!

I woke up today thinking of songs from my childhood. My father was musical, playing trumpet and French horn. He loved jazz and classical music - especially Beethoven. Most of the music I love is rooted in these art forms.

I grew up in the 60’s and 70’s. Lots of ballads, lots of instrumentation. Bands were big. Hair was big. Moustaches were big. The music was ambitious. There was much to respect, even with songs I didn’t care for, like American Pie or California Girls.

My boy band was the Jackson 5. My first concert was at the Apollo Theatre. The Sylvers were playing. The first album I brought for myself was Brother to Brother by Gino Vannelli. The last concert I saw was Gino Vannelli at Domaine Forget in Saint Irénée, Charlevoix, in Quebec, (or maybe it was Tuck & Patti in Boston???)

Here’s a playlist with some of my early favorites. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed putting it together!

https://open.spotify.com/user/olivia.cornell/playlist/5bjdirUEAYZ5JrcpzP0dF1?si=kjssn32gQN6VayYBGQIztQ

Brioche & Biscuits

Contact me!

I am constantly looking for new ways to share the news that it is possible to heal from the effects of trauma in our lives. If you would like to learn more about what is happening and how you can help, don't hesitate to reach out.

Olivia Searcy
smallandfoolish@gmail.com

Happy Mother’s Day!

Happy Mother’s Day!

My mother wasn’t a feminist. She didn’t long to make her mark in the workplace. She wasn’t a pioneer for social justice. Her desire was to be a wife and mother. She wanted to have six children befire the age of thirty. She gave birt

My mother wasn’t a feminist. She didn’t long to make her mark in the workplace. She wasn’t a pioneer for social justice. Her desire was to be a wife and mother. She wanted to have six children befire the age of thirty. She gave birth to four. I was number one. My due date was November 22, 1963, but I was actually born 3 months earlier, on August 22nd. I weighed 2 lbs, 3 oz. and was born with respiratory distress syndrome, known then as hyaline membrane disease. The prognosis was grim, and few newborns survived. My earliest memory is of my mother reading to me. When my eyes were vacant and I didn’t respond to outside stimuli, she read to me. When doctors told her I would be limited cognatively, she read to me. When she was knocked down when she was 5 months pregnant and I was born 2 weeks later, she read to me instead of accepting the inevitable. Reading was her way of fighting. She knew I would be well. For three years she read to me, with no visible sign of change. My physical milestones were fine,but I wasn’t speaking. I wasn’t responding to verbal or vocal cues. My eyes still had that vacant look. But I was surrounded by her voice, and occasionally the television. One day, we went to visit relatives in Englewood, New Jersey. My father was driving. My mother was in the front, with my baby brother. I was three at the time, in the back seat looking out of the window. As we passed a Shell gas station, I spoke my first words ever. “Shell. They sponsor Sputnik.” I believe her faith made me whole. For three years, she believed. She fought with the only weapons she had. And that was enough. #happymothersday

Cherry Blossoms!!!

Cherry Blossoms!!!