A Reason to Believe

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Springsteen has an unbelievable song on the great Nebraska record.

Reason to Believe is my beautiful wife's favorite song.

I think it's right up there for my sister-in-law Dana and my buddy Pops as well. It's definitely in my top ten. The lyrics are astounding:

Seen a man standin' over a dead dog, lyin' by the highway in a ditch
He's lookin' down kinda' puzzled, pokin' that dog with a stick
Got his car door flung open
He's standin' out on highway 31
Like if he stood there long enough that dog'd
get up and run.

Struck me kinda' funny
Seemed kinda' funny sir to me
Still at the end of every hard earned day
People find some reason to believe.

That first verse is unbelievable, isn't it?

I was shocked to my gills last week.

I was behind the wheel of my car, driving back and forth, trying to figure some things. I just kept thinking:

Life is just ridiculous.

Ridiculously sad.

Ridiculously cruel.

I knew that I needed to make peace with it somehow.

Now Mary Lou loved Johnny with a love mean and true
She said 'Baby I'll work for you everyday and bring my money home to you."
One day he up and left her, and ever since that
she waits on the end of that dirt road
for young Johnny to come back.

Struck me kinda' funny
funny, yea indeed, how at the end of every hard earned day
you can find some reason to believe.

Great second verse, huh?

The possibility of hope.

I returned home late in the week and my ever-optimistic boy, Sam, did his best to get me involved in a conversation about baseball...a love we share.

He made me laugh.

Take a baby to the river.
Kyle William they call him
Wash the baby in the water
Take away little Kyle's sin

In a whitewash shotgun shack
An old man passes away
Take the body to the graveyard
and over him they pray
Lord won't you tell us
Tell us what does it mean?

At the end of every hard earned day
people find some reason to believe.

Verse three entered my mind on what was my third drive back from the accident scene which was more than an hour away.

Lord won't you tell us?

What is the reason?

Congregation gathers
down by the riverside
Preacher stands with his bible,
groom stands waitin' for his bride.

Congregation gone
and the sun sets behind a weepin' willow tree
Groom stands alone and
watches the river rush on
so effortlessly.
Wonderin' where can his baby be.

Still at the end of every hard-earned day
people find some reason to believe.

The rain pelted the windows hard, just beside my bed.

It was the middle of the night.

Not much made much sense yet.

I felt the power of the storm with my dog right beside me.

The rain was coming down in sheets.

What is the reason for it all?

Why do we still believe?

Tired.

Fearful.

Sad.

The dog nuzzled close to me and we just watched the storm.

Thunder crashing.

Bolt after bolt lighting up the sky.

My dog and me.

Looking out the window in the middle of the night.

The lyrics swimming in my head.

At the end of every hard earned day...

...people find some reason to believe.

RIP Mark.

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