It was many, many years ago, sometime in the late ‘70’s, that I saw Bette Midler on another HBO special. She was quite the performer then. Out of all the songs she sang in that show, there was one song that has left a mark on my heart to this day. It’s the song called “Hello In There.”
Before she
sings the song, Bette tells a story about a 400 lb. lady she passes in the streets
of NYC. The lady is going bald on the
crown of her head and there on the crown sits a fried egg. Bette prays asking God not to let her wake up
the next morning and decide to put a fried egg on her top of her head; but if
she does, she prays that nobody will notice; but if they do notice and want to
talk about her having a fried egg on top of her head, she prays that she won’t
hear them talk about it.
She goes on
to say that sooner or later everyone will get a fried egg, call it what you
want, but everyone will get one; some will wear it on the outside and some on
the inside. After this moving
performance, she begins to sing the song “Hello In There.”
The song is
also very moving. It’s a slow melody
with sad lyrics. They almost make you
want to cry. It’s about the loneliness
of the elderly.
Imagine. You are in the twilight years of your life. Your children, if you had any, are grown and
have moved away. You don’t hear much
from them. You feel alone even if you
are not. Life doesn’t seem to matter
like it used to. You don’t do much
anymore. You sit and stare and think
about things that were. You think about
getting in touch with old friends, but don’t because nothing has changed and
you don’t have much to say. Loneliness
consumes you and you let it. You feel invisible. You go through the motions each day and the people
around you don’t know how lonely you really are because you can’t tell them or don't want them to know. You are satisfied to sit on your porch and
stare out into the world as it passes you by.
All those
years ago, the “fried egg” story impressed upon me that everyone should be treated with
dignity and respect no matter what is different about them. We are all different in our own unique
ways. The song showed me I need to be gentle
and kind to all, especially the elderly.
The last
verse of the song says,
So if you're out walking down the
street sometime
and you spot some hollow ancient eyes,
please don’t just pass them by and stare
as if you didn't care.
Say, "Hello in there.
Hello."and you spot some hollow ancient eyes,
please don’t just pass them by and stare
as if you didn't care.
I took this to heart. Over the
years I have had several opportunities to wave to strangers sitting on their
porch. It lifts my heart as I watch them
smile back and wave. I know they are
wondering who I am and how do they know me.
Even if it's just for a few minutes, I hope I have given them something different to think about, maybe even taking their mind off of some trouble they are having. I like this. It makes me feel good about waving to them.
Since moving to Blacksburg, Rick and I have been waving to an elderly, white haired lady who lives on Lime Street. We
see her sitting on her porch most Sunday mornings as we drive by on our way to church. I can see the questions on her face as she waves back, uncertain of who we are. I am always disappointed when I don't see her sitting on the porch because it lifts my soul to wave and say, "Hello in there." I pray it does the same for her.
Hugs ♥
I was able
to find Bette Midler’s performance on YouTube and it was still very moving to
me. Click on this link if you want to
watch it.
No comments:
Post a Comment