Sunday evening, the last of the long, hot, 4th of July weekend, a couple friends from our community band and I were lucky enough to attend a Detroit Symphony Orchestra concert held outside at Meadowbrook Hall.

A few minutes before I left home to meet them for a quick dinner before the concert, the skies opened up and rain poured down. It was the first rain all weekend. I was discouraged, but figured at least we’d have a nice meal together and we’d see about the music later.

But even as I walked out to the car it began to clear.

So it was with high hopes and a bit of excitement that we arrived at the venue and found a place to sit in the grass high on the hill overlooking the stage. Of course just as we began to settle in the rain began again.

But once again it blew right through, and with a few gusts of wind the sky began to brighten. Then the music began.

What a wonderful evening! The crowd was happy and appreciative. The weather cooperated. The music was, of course, wonderful. Celebrating John Williams, it was filled with the scores of his many works and as the conductor talked about each piece you could hear the audience anticipate which one would be played next.

We were usually right.

As I listened I thought about Shelley, our community band music director who passed away this past February. She would have loved this concert. What’s not to love? The Detroit Symphony, a group she had season tickets for, a beautiful summer night, families enjoying the music, a beautiful sky overhead, and John Williams.

Perfect.

Toward the end of the program a lesser known score was played, the theme from Far and Away. The movie starred Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman and the music starts off similar to a lot of his movie scores, fast and furious. But the last minute of the 3 minute piece, those last moments, those are sweet.

I smiled because in those moments, with fireflies twinkling and the music soaring into the evening sky, I knew somewhere maybe right overhead and not so far and away, Shelley was smiling too.

And I bet, in fact I’m 100% sure, she enjoyed the concert just as much as we did.