November 4th is a special day for me. Sixty-one years ago, my wife’s mother was born. She died six years ago, on my wife’s birthday. Five years ago, my wife and I got married on November 4th and four years ago, we baptized Fiona on November 4th.

So, last night, we went to hear Tish Hinojosa at Music for a Change. Kim and I had heard Tish in concert a couple other times and really like her. Be had bought one of her CDs which has become a favorite of Fiona’s.

It was a nice sized crowd, I would guess around 100 people. The auditorium was small and intimate. Fiona requested a song and there was nice back and forth with the crowd.

Tish sang in a mixture of Spanish and English and her songs were full of stories about her childhood, her special ‘Siempre Abuelita’ (always grandma), of the Magnolia tree that she and her sister played under as a child, and growing up on the West Side of Town.

She sang some traditional songs from the borderlands. It struck me; when I think of traditional songs from the borderlands, I think of the border between Scotland and England. Songs of the borderlands are common in many cultures and it was touching to think about the upheaval that so many people have struggled with as they have sought a better life.

Yesterday was a special day. I thought of my own struggles and my wife’s struggles. I thought about what has brought us to where we are and about the loss of Kim’s mother. I thought about Fiona dancing to Magnolia the way I imagine Tish must have danced underneath the Magnolia tree of her childhood. I thought about how we are all in this together.