Ode to Joy and the Day my Husband Fainted

What brings you joy? Maybe it’s your children, your pet,  your spouse. Maybe it’s a professional sports team.

There are many things that bring me joy. The time my sister-in-law and I went for ice cream with my nephew and my rescue pup Strummer. We ordered ice cream and when the ice cream was ready at the pickup window my sister-in-law handed me two separate cups of ice cream and said “These are for the nephews”. That made me smile. Watching my nephew score his 1,000th career high school basket brought me joy. Seeing my niece bright-eyed and rapt at Hamilton brought me joy; and then seeing her smile as she met the lead from Hamilton. Watching my new rescue pup Jozi play with the neighborhood pups brings me joy. Finally seeing a bear (there are 2 in my neighborhood and for some reason I keep missing them) in Lenox after a concert at Tanglewood made me smile. (I’m not so sure I would have been smiling if I saw the bear while hiking Lenox Mountain). Seeing elephants and giraffes and lions on a safari brought me so much joy; and meeting all of the incredible people in Africa, again, pure joy.

What fills me with the most joy, however, is Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Ode to Joy. It is my favorite piece of music, and I go to as many Beethoven’s Ninth concerts as possible.

Growing up Beethoven’s Ninth used to be my track warm up “song”. (I know, not so conventional, but hey, it worked, most of the time – wink wink).

I also wrote a poem to Ode to Joy, and we sang it in my church.

If you ask anyone in my family what is Ava’s favorite song or piece of music, they will unanimously say “Beethoven’s Ninth”.

We attend Tanglewood throughout the summer including for the final concert of the season which features….that’s right Beethoven’s Ninth.  Except in 2021 due to COVID, the Boston Symphony Orchestra has always played Beethoven’s Ninth on the final Sunday of the Tanglewood Season.  We, and by we I mean me and hubs, have been visiting Tanglewood for as long as I can remember and Beethoven’s Ninth is our most favorite time of the year.

I love Lenox, the Berkshires and the Tanglewood Picnic. Not so humble brag here. I am featured in Gina Hyams’ Tanglewood Picnic book. There is a picture of me and my Tanglewood picnic, picnic table and all, fresh flowers and candles and of course, I’m wearing a hat to match the occasion.

Given my love for the Ninth imagine my happiness when I saw that not only would we be able to enjoy Beethoven’s Ninth on the final Sunday of Tanglewood but that the weekend before, we could also enjoy the Ninth at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) where Yannick Nézet-Seguin would be conducting. (I absolutely love Yannick).

Concert tickets were secured; hotel reservations were made and off to Saratoga we went. On Saturday evening after a wonderful meal at Noah’s Italian we headed to the SPAC for the Ninth.

The performance was everything one may have imagined and more. Yannick’s conducting was awe-inspiring and the Philadelphia Orchestra and Choir produced a sound that was simply breath taking.

At the conclusion of the 4th movement a unanimous standing ovation ensued. It was during this ovation that my husband suddenly collapsed. I heard an odd sound and all of a sudden he was falling. Sheer panic and shock ran through me. I leaned over him and placed my hand on his heart which I swore was not beating. His clothing was damp. The people around me reached over to help. I am on the verge of yelling call 911 when hubs opens his eyes and asks “Where am I”. I felt relief but my heart was still racing. The fellow concert attendees advised letting him stay seated on the ground for a moment and then we helped him to his seat. I begged anyone around for water and the woman seated next to us shared her used bottle (who cared at that point). My husband drank the water and wiped the perspiration off his face. I kept my hand on his heart, to make sure it was still beating. He held his hand over my hand.

After about 10 minutes, and many a concert goer’s inquiring, we decided to depart and walked slowly back to the Gideon Putnam. My husband refused medical treatment or a trip to the ER.

I didn’t sleep a wink that night because I feared the worst.

Before he went to sleep we said our I love you’s and he said to me “It was always you, there was never anyone else”.

So on August 15th, after fruity cocktails, wine, dinner, Beethoven’s Ninth, and a fainting spell, what brought me joy that evening, was feeling my husband’s heartbeat, and the words he said to me before falling off to sleep.

Sweet Dreams,

Ava

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