Writing braided essays, ones that start with a song, in the past, on a street, and then lead to moments with a brother, a dying grandmother, taking us in and out of the moments that speak, resonate, and linger always. You’re right. That’s what music does, the gift it brings. But always, it takes a senstive nature — even a sarcastic one — to hear and to allow that song to take us where it needs to. I wrote a piece last fall for A Cornered Gurl about hearing Wilco’s “On and On” at a moment too fraught with loss. And why does Bowie’s “heroes” make me wonder abut that year in college, in my pollen-filled house, when i couldn’t get that one person out of my head/ I love Norah Jones, too, and felt her as you wrote. I think I’ll play her now as i figure out this day. Thanks Melinda A Smith. Hope to macth your beautiful essay soon.