Hard to Say > Comments > "Review of Hard to Say"
Piece Comment
Commenter Profile
- Sydney Lewis
- Username: slewis
- Location: Rochester, Massachusetts
- Joined PRX: Sep 06, 2003
Piece Information
- "Hard to Say"
- Summary: Ninety year old Ed Werler takes listeners on a sentimental journey exploring love and loss.
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Review of Hard to Say
Sydney Lewis
Posted on May 21, 2004 at 12:47 PM
Poignantly titled, this sentimental journey, under which a big band version of the song plays, would be perfect for Valentine’s Day or an Alzheimer-related moment. Ed, ninety at the telling, gently shares, through brief, visual details, a portrait of his second marriage and of his wife’s deteriorating condition. His subtle optimism as he says, “I live here alone at the time,” hooked me right off the bat. He describes building their kitchen so they’d have plenty of room to dance, and we hear in his happy chuckle how much they love to move together. His wife now lives in a facility, but is still present enough for the dancing to continue. This is a journey –– beginning in the kitchen, moving to the facility, and ending with the “hard to say” allusion to an unknown future. The ending feels a little abrupt, but otherwise, it's a lovely 6-minute slice of humanity.