Come Away With Me

One of the things I wanted to do before we left Nashville was see at concert at Ryman Auditorium.  The Ryman Auditorium is this big, old church, with the pews still in it, the one time home of The Grand Ole Opry.  It is a legendary music venue.  It’s very simple and basic, with not much in the way of extras.  It’s just the musicians and a little lighting.  The music and the songs are the focus.  So, you can’t just go see anyone perform at The Ryman.  It has to be someone who’s musical abilities shine in that type of setting, who can be at their best in the stripped down environment.  Norah Jones fit that description for my wife and I, so, last night, my wife and I went to the Norah Jones concert at the Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville. 

Ever since moving to Nashville, Elizabeth and I have both had to work.  Due to our committment to have one of us always at home with our kids, our work schedules have been a little crazy.  One of us worked at night, the other one in the mornings.  The evening of the Norah Jones concert was the third night in a row that Elizabeth and I had been able to be together.  When you have a schedule like we’ve had, it takes a night or two to get reacquainted with one another, to catch up on what has happened the last few days.  But by then, it’s time for us to go back to work again.  To have three nights in a row, is like magic.  I’m not sure when the last time was that this has happened.  It’s that third night where you get past the catching up, the reacquainting and you are really able to connect with one another.  We didn’t plan it this way, it just kind of worked out, that we could be together, arms around each other, in the third row of the Ryman Auditorium soaking up the sweet sounds of Norah Jones. 

Her first song was Come Away With Me, and as the words left the stage and entered my mind, I was hit with a realization.  I love my wife.  Our life since living in Nashville has been this giant mix of stressful situations, emotional struggles of growing, heartbreaking glimpses of our true selves.  Yet, my wife sits here with me, leaning her head on my shoulder at a Norah Jones concert at the Ryman Auditorium.  A peace flows through me, that our relationship has survived this Winter in Nashville, and a foundation of lasting love has been established.  Leaving all that we knew and were familiar with and coming to Nashville was risky.  Our relationship could have been shattered to pieces.  But here we are at the Ryman Auditorium, in Nashville, Tennessee, listening to Norah Jones, as she helps us to celebrate our journey. 

Come away with me in the night
Come away with me
And I will write you a song

Come away with me on a bus
Come away with me where they can’t tempt us
With their lies

I want to walk with you
On a cloudy day
In fields where the yellow grass grows
knee kigh
So won’t you try to come

Come away with me and we’ll kiss
On a mountain top
Come away with me
And I’ll never stop loving you

And I want to wake up with the rain
Falling on a tin roof
While I’m safe there in your arms
So all I ask is for you
To come away with me in the night
Come away with me