We Determine How We Are Remembered By The Way We Live Our Days
Preface
All the music on this site is music that Tom loved and chose to listen to repeatedly.
Tom was a tender man whose heart was almost always filled with the jubilance of music. It would not be unusual to find him to singin his heart out when he was driving to an adventure or a concert, at home with accompanied theatrics or simply to find him hum melodies when he was anxious or when he was trying to solve a problem. When I was very ill, Tom would pull up a chair, next to my bed or lay beside me, singing to me softly, which in retrospect, I think, soothed us both. He often sang sweet lullabies to settle Sterling as infant.
Tom preferred to expresss his affection through musical and visual expression rather than in writing. When he wanted to share, celebrate, and assure you that you mattered, he often made a trip to the Hallmark Store. He would in the card section forever be picking the cards that said exactly what he wanted to say. It did not matter if it was a funny card for our girls or a romantic card for me. Tom was an idealist and a dreamer in many ways.
In our relationship, Tom spent an inordinate amount of time listening to a song's lyrics. He would explain to me how important it was to understand the artist's lyrical intention. I think he also wanted to share with me his. When we lived in Cambridge, Tom would make frequent trips to Tower Records, Strawberries, Sam Goody’s, or Walden Books where you could put on a headset and listen to the music before buying. He would come back with CD’s for us, with childlike excitement. He would replay without limit; the music he chose till we knew every word and nuance. He wanted songs for all circumstances we engaged in. Cards, music and sometimes theater were, as they are for many of us, a perfect way to express feelings and what he did not exactly know how put in writing.