So Long, Lhasa
I was saddened to hear of the unexpected death of one of my favourite singers, Lhasa de Sela. It was unexpected to me, at least — I hadn’t known that she’d already been ill for about a year when I bought her last album, in the spring of 2009. I never met her, but that beautiful voice always spoke directly to me; I was deeply affected every time I listened to her magical singing and the poetry of her lyrics. They will resonate and take on an even deeper meaning when I hear them now. The last time I saw her was on stage in Montreal, on June 26, 2008, performing Leonard Cohen’s So Long, Marianne and Who By Fire. I will treasure those memories.
Lhasa died at the age of 37 in Montreal, on January 1, 2010, after a long battle with breast cancer. The press release ends on a poetic and appropriately melancholic note: “It has snowed more than 40 hours in Montreal since Lhasa’s departure.”
Another of my favourite singers, La Mari of Chambao, is a breast cancer survivor, and continues to enchant the world with her voice and her courage. As La Mari (with help from her sister Aurora) writes in Enamorá de la vida, aunque a veces duela, her book about her struggle with cancer and the ability to grow, even through pain and suffering:
Todas las experiencias de la vida pueden mostrarnos universos desconocidos y extraños. Hay que atreverse a dar el paso, cruzar el umbral con los ojos bien abiertos y mirar, como un niño lo haría, el mundo recién nacido que nos ofrece nuevas posibilidades, con curiosidad y ganas de aprender.
(My own translation: All of life’s experiences can reveal to us strange and unknown worlds. We must dare to step forth, cross the threshold with eyes wide open and see, with childlike curiosity and a desire to learn, this newborn world of possibilities.)
Like probably everyone on the planet, numerous people in my own life have been affected by this disease. My thoughts are with you all…the survivors as well as the families and friends of those whose women who didn’t survive.