Anything Colin Hay has to say about my life

Yeah, that Colin Hay. The singer for Men at Work, a slightly offbeat 80s band famous for songs like "Overkill" and "Land Down Under," which raised this burning question: What the hell is vegemite?

Colin Hay has a solo career, and Geddy and I are going to see him in concert tonight. "My my my, it's a beautiful world," he will sing to me. "Perhaps this is as good as it gets." I will cry when he sings, "I can see you where you're hiding, and there's water over you."

Because I know I will cry, I will have to carry Kleenex in my bag, which I suppose will have to be searched at the door. I am fortunate to no longer have any need for Tampax, which always used to hit the ground when concert security's big, clumsy hands went pawing through my things. Never the lipstick or the Doublemint, always the Tampax. Hopefully the Kleenex will stay put, but if it falls out, at least it won't be awkward.

Colin Hay will sing sentimental songs and I will feel sentimental feelings. I will hold my husband's hand and regret how close we were to giving up on each other. I will sharply, fiercely miss my dead brother. I will ache over the calculated and senseless murder of another brother's marriage, the theft of his children, and I will fight against raw, blinding hatred. I will wish for a time when life wasn't so difficult to navigate and I wasn't so tired. Or sad.

Colin Hay will sing to me,
"When the pieces, they all fit together
Through the dark clouds, the sun will shine
I could wait for a change in the weather
Or let the rain wash it all away."

Anything Colin Hay has to say about my life will be something I know already. I know I am giving myself permission to acknowledge my regret, my pain and my anger, but also that I must put them right away again in a tiny corner of my heart. That's all the space they deserve, and all I can spare and still have room for all the amazing, beautiful, joyful, soul-expanding experiences God has promised to me.

Colin Hay will sing to me, and I will collect the rain on my Kleenex and throw it away. Colin Hay will share anything he has to say about my life, and anything Colin Hay has to say about my life will help me remember what I know already.