In music, a minor key isn’t necessarily sad. It’s just different. The intervals between notes are smaller. The sound is darker, more complex. A song can be beautiful in a minor key. But you feel the weight of it. Memorial Day weekend, 2022. That’s when the key changed.
In this episode: A reunion at the airport after ten years apart. A pact we made in the car about our parents’ funerals. A gym, a treadmill, and something wrong with my sister’s head. A panic attack. A train back to Longview without saying goodbye. A 35-minute subway ride where I googled “glioblastoma” and fell apart. A phone call in the Oculus. And the summer we learned how much time we had left.
Music:
“Nearer My God to Thee” — Traditional hymn
“Gnossienne No. 1” — Erik Satie
“Piano Sonata No. 16 in C Major” (Allegro) — Mozart
“Canon in D” — Pachelbel
“Ave Maria” (Bach/Gounod)
“Für Elise” — Beethoven
“Scarborough Fair” — Traditional
Additional tracks licensed via Envato Elements
Read more: jennyskoog.substack.com
Content note: This season discusses terminal illness, death, religious trauma, and family estrangement.
