Empty Sunday :

Long ago at the first signs of Summer's arrival (wow....am I writing a story book?)
a work colleague of Monika's at the handicapped children's school and a beautiful woman was have come to know and love, Magda, invited us to her daughter's birthday party! Magda and her husband are from Poland, but have been living here for more than 10 years. We shared a beautiful time celebrating her daughter's birthday, talking, eating and drinking, playing music, hearing music, and more talking, talking and talking. Magda's husband used to be devoted to his music and ever since he and Magda started a family, he has given it up. He can't accept having the two together, and thus feels as if he was forced to give it up and just the way he speaks about it I can't help but notice how the current absence of that joy in his everyday life has made him a little resentful and bitter towards the whole family atmosphere. Despite all that, we begged him to play for us and once he started, there was no stopping him. From the piano to guitar to singing along both on songs he wrote, and songs he loves to cover (oh his fav: Garth Brooks "Thunder Rolls"...I almost died), he absolutely loves to preform. And actually Magda wrote the lyrics for a handful of the songs! When they were first dating, she would write short poems or prose and the would work together to put them to music. It was beautiful to see them come alive together in showing us their long-put-away art.

One song in particular struck me in particular, not only when he played it or when I read the lyrics, but when he, the artist, the writer, sat there before us on his piano bench and went back to that moment of writing, went back into that moment of fruitful pain and anguish which lead him to write "Empty Sunday", and from that place explained to us why he wrote the song and what meaning it has for him.

 "Its called Empty Sunday because Sunday is the day you spend with family, with the ones you love. You spend it in relaxation and being together. But at this point in my life I had no one. I was so alone. Sundays were anguish for me. In my loneliness, Sundays were completely empty.

"It was a loneliness I cannot describe that lead me to write this song. There is a loneliness that cannot be described. That is so personal that no one can even begin to try to understand it. It has you on the floor in anguish. You cant even think of speaking in order to explain it. No words are possible."

and then he went on to describe how moved he was about hearing about our mission, the mission of Heart's Home simply to give friendship and love to those who are suffering the most, to those who are the most lonely and suffering in emptiness in order to give them hope through our presence. He said that he was so moved to hear it because he knows what that suffering is. It was that exact suffering that lead him to write Empty Sunday.

"You can have everything and nothing at all. You can be truly poor without anyone knowing, understanding, or being able to help you. And this poverty has no land, no city, no typical district or slum. No Borders. It is everywhere, even right before your eyes." 

Magda and her family spent the summer months in Poland and just recently returned to Vienna before the start of school. On Tuesday we were invited to their house for a cook-out (don't even think like an American when you hear this word--Vienna cook outs are like playing with a plastic kitchen as a child compared to those in America, but it was cute). Once again we spent a lot of time talking and gathered around his musical instruments. I was plucking away at his guitar when he was taking a break and then all of the sudden I was playing the guitar (Ben Harper) to an accompaniment he had improvised. It was amazing...I guess talent never dies no matter how much you try to neglect it. Speaking of neglected talents....I promised both him and Magda that I would practice violin so that next time I come I bring my violin with me and we will write some duets. Looks like I have a lot of practicing ahead of me.