happy new year all, and wish us well.

pocketful of rainbows : elvis presley

click on the image below to listen

For the reason I'll say in a while, I'm starting the year with a comfort song. With a title that suggests of childlike cheer, complete with pre-recording banter between Elvis and his producer, this song is so blissfully infectious it makes you want to reach into your pocket and hope to find something candy-colored. You also gotta love the man's voice here, playfully alternating three or more vocal ranges, which is so unlike the crooning Elvis we know from his more popular ballads. It's a comfort song for me because (much like comfort food) it's something I know by heart and that lightens up my mood. R, my significant other, and I could wrap ourselves with the warmth of this song for what we have before us. No, scratch that. We choose to be as optimistic as this song because of what lies ahead. Of her, especially.

Just days before Christmas, R was diagnosed to have breast cancer, and was told that surgery was need within about a month, which today means some time in the next couple of weeks. We're being very positive about it. R is very strong emotionally, more so than I am, I must say. Naturally, she was devastated at first, but my love and admiration for her grow everyday as I see how she deals with it with unflinching spirit, never losing her humor and grace, never shedding a tear or breaking her voice even as we speak about what she will go through in the next few days, and the weeks that will follow. Lumpectomy, radiotherapy, possible chemotherapy are words we never thought she would have to deal with. But we have accepted the fact and we're together in all respects in getting through this. This is just another trial which we have the strength and faith to bear. Our pockets are filled with rainbows, and our hearts are full of love.