Music

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven . . . . He has made everything beautiful in his time. . . .” (Ecclesiastes 3: 1, 4)

Here in Provo, Utah, we are enjoying a gorgeous display of color everywhere we look, signifying a dramatic change in the seasons. The brilliant displays on the mountains take our breath away.

I wish it could last oh so much longer but all we can do is enjoy it for all we’re worth while it is happening, understanding that it will be followed by another amazing display of snow-covered mountains which will eventually give way to the greening of spring. I am so happy to live where we can visually enjoy the changing of the seasons, and hope I can always feel peace in the changing of the seasons in my own life also. I read in Ecclesiastes 1:4 today, “One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh; but the earth abideth forever.” At the funeral of a dear friend recently these words had deep meaning for me as I considered my own mortality.

Life’s Seasons

I seemed to pass through all the early seasons of my life without consciously thinking of them as seasons. First I was a child completely dependent upon my parents, then a “wise” teenager, a college student who happily moved on to the love and marriage season of life, and then to the enormous responsibility of rearing children for thirty years or more. That’s when I began to consciously consider the reality of the various seasons of our lives and the importance of enjoying each one in its turn.

As our children grew and were finally all in school, I also enjoyed seasons of developing my talents, enjoying sports (both as participant and spectator), having more time to give service, and preparing for the time when our children would all surely leave home for school, work, missions and marriage. That time came all too soon, but we happily entered into the season of grandparenting, serving a senior mission, learning a new language and culture and welcoming great grandchildren. Looking back now from the perspective of what is our final season of life,

it all seems to have passed at warp speed-so many seasons of happiness, challenges, sadness and joy that will now culminate in the final chapter (which I hope is a long one!)

Music For the Seasons

Much of the wisdom I have acquired about the seasons of life has come from songs written by family members. On Mother’s Day 1991 as I sat by the bedside of my mother Ruth, whose passing was imminent-maybe that very day-my daughter Lynne gave me a very special gift that somehow defined for me the tender experience I was in, and comforted me greatly. Lynne had watched through the months of her grandmother’s decline and had written her observations about generational love and the changing seasons of our lives into a poem which she simply titled “Generations.” Later I asked her to set it to music and we recorded it:

[Click here to listen to “Generations”]

Generations
Words & Music by Lynne Perry Christofferson
From the album, When I Feel His Love
Vocalist: Johanne Frechette Perry

She welcomed you, that day of birth
With open arms and heart
And gave you true security-
The sweetest kind of start
   Beginning a new generation.

You welcomed me in late July
So glad to have a girl
And lovingly prepared me
To go out into the world
     Creating a new generation

My dark-haired girl came in the Spring
And made you oh, so proud
You’ve tended, taught, and spoiled her
As Grandmas are allowed
     Enjoying a new generation

And now it seems that very soon

The one who raised you well
Will breathe the last of this life
As you ease her through the veil
Soothing, bathing, quenching thirst
As you have seen her do
Yet this time roles have been reversed
She’s mothered now by you
     Entwining your two generations

How bitter sweet to say goodbye
Yet there are no regrets
There is no deeper love than this
     Repaying tender debts

Releasing the first generation
Releasing the first generation

Mother passed away peacefully the next evening and my siblings and I spent a spirit-filled hour with her before calling the mortuary. When we called our son Steve to tell him of her passing, a babysitter answered and said that Steve and Johanne were at the hospital for the birth of their baby. We felt such a mix of emotions. We headed for the hospital and shortly after our arrival, our grandson Jason arrived and we felt nothing but pure joy-both for Mother and for Jason. I hope they met during the short interval between her death and his birth.

Steve later said that as he placed his new son in our arms he realized that everyone had just moved up a generation. At the time of Jason’s birth he had been writing a song for his one-woman musical Polly-a true story from our family tree which would showcase the talents of his wife Johanne. He had specifically been pondering a song for the show that duplicated what we had all just experienced in real life. In the musical, Polly was feeling nostalgic while writing to her daughter Emily after the birth of her new baby, and at the same time is remembering her mother who has passed on and wondering if her mother had felt the same emotions she was feeling. Our real-life experience in the hospital that night crystallized Steve’s thoughts on the subject and he wrote what I consider to be the definitive song about the passing of the seasons.

[Click here to listen to “The Way of Things”]

The Way of Things
Words & Music by Steven Kapp Perry
Vocal: Johanne Frechette Perry
From the CD Polly

Is this what Mama felt when was young
To see her daughter grow, then give her up
Wasn’t I Mama’s girl, just yesterday
But she is Grandma now
And I am Mama in her place

     And that’s the way of things
     Of things that grow
     We have a destiny we can’t control
     And how could anyone remain the same
     The mark of living things is how they change

Spoken: “There’s nothing like children to show the
years going by. It’s nature though, like seasons.
First they’re always under foot, like goslings in
the spring. Then, before you know it, they scatter
like geese in winter.”

Is this what Mama felt when she grew old
If she was ever scared, it never showed
And letting Mama go was strangely calm
As if she’d finished here and just moved on
Wasn’t I Mama’s girl just yesterday

But she has gone ahead
And I am Grandma in her place

And now my little girl is Mama, too
And one day, Emily,
I know I’ll leave my place to you

     For that’s the way of things
     Of things that grow
     We bloom and have our day
     And then we go

But what I’ve planted here–
The seeds-remain
And those who follow me
Will be the links in a living chain

Is that what Mama felt that made her strong
Is that what Mama knew
That life goes on .

---

.
Many years later when I had been enjoying my role as Grandma for quite a long time, I had a feeling to write my own song about the different life cycles family members were experiencing. I marveled at the energy of my daughter and my two daughters-in-law, Lynne, Johanne and Kim, whose lives were centered almost completely around meeting the needs of their growing children.

In contrast, my life seemed quite relaxed and easy. When I was their age I occasionally longed for this next stage. Now that I’m in it, I sometimes long for the season I left behind. But I have come to know that each season has its own rewards-a little joy, a little pain. But it is comforting to know that some things never change: Through all the seasons of my life, I’ll put my faith in Jesus Christ. My daughter Lynne and her daughter Sarah recorded the song with me.

[Click here to play “The Seasons of My Life”]

The Seasons of My Life

Words & Music by Janice Kapp Perry
Vocals: Sarah, Lynne and Janice
From the album By Small and Simple Means

Teen:

This is the springtime of my life
Not yet a mother or a wife
So many pathways lie ahead of me
My choices now decide my destiny
     My life is fun, my future bright

     I love this season of my life

Mom:
This is the summer of my life
A busy mom, a loving wife
As all my children grow, they look to me
To guide and nurture them thru stormy seas
     Our home is happy and alive
     I love this season of my life

Grandma:
This is the autumn of my life
My old companion by my side
We face the future with serenity
Surrounded by a loving family
     We watch them grow with quiet pride
     I love this season of my life

Each season has its own rewards
A little joy, a little pain
But it is comforting to know
That some things never change

All:
Through all the seasons of my life
I’ll put my faith in Jesus Christ
His love is nurturing, His words are sure
I feel Him near me when my heart is pure
     He gives me strength to choose the right
     In every season of my life

The seasons come, the seasons go
The world is changing, this I know
His love will help me reach my destiny
This sweet assurance lives inside of me
     In every season of my life
     I will be led by gospel light
     I’ll put my faith in Jesus Christ

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf says of the seasons of our lives:

“Our great opportunity during the ever-changing seasons of our lives is to hold fast to the faithful word of God, for His counsel is designed not only to help us weather the storms of life but also to guide us past them. . . . Still, we will have to pass through all seasons-both pleasant and painful. But no matter the season, as followers of Jesus Christ, we will rest our hope upon Him as we walk toward His light. . . . Therefore, let us be saints in spring, summer, fall, and winter. Let us be saints for all seasons. (Uchtdorf, Dieter F., “Saints for All Seasons,” Ensign, September 2013.)

Janice Kapp Perry: Composer, author, lecturer