Wedding MAINia

Have Your Dance With Bette Midler Songs

There are certain musical artists that appeal across different genres and attract an audience from all age groups. This is the case with Bette Midler, a singer and actress, with a long and distinguished career. Some Bette Midler songs have achieved classic status and she is known for her passionate delivery of ballads and up tempo numbers. Her varied career has brought four Grammy awards, an Emmy and a Tony. She has also received two nominations for an Academy Award.

Barry Manilow formed a friendship with Midler when he accompanied her on piano. This led to him producing her first album in 1973, called “The Divine Miss M”, a title taken from one of her nicknames. Many singles and albums followed, boosted by her exciting stage shows and film and theatre performances. Many fans would agree that the best way to hear Bette Midler songs is to see her live. The next best thing is a live album and Midler obliged with her 1977 release, “Live at Last”. This featured some great performances, including “Bang, You’re Dead”, “In the Mood”, “Alabama Song” and “Long Delta Blues”.

In 1985, Midler joined other singers to make the single, “We Are the World”, the charity record for USA for Africa. The song was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and featured a wide variety of vocal styles, including Ray Charles, Willie Nelson, Steve Perry and Bob Dylan. When thinking of Bette Midler songs, most people would recall “Wind Beneath My Wings”. It was the theme song for her movie, “Beaches” and it was a number one hit and a Grammy winner in 1989 for Record of the Year.

One of the most successful greatest hits compilations features Bette Midler songs. Called “Experience the Divine”, it came out in 1993 and reached number three in the UK charts. Of course, “Wind Beneath My Wings” was present and other tracks include “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” and “When a Man Loves a Woman”. The theme song from her film, “The Rose” is also included. The single of “The Rose” had previously been number three in the US pop charts and had achieved gold sales. The movie “The Rose” gave Midler a chance to play a gritty role. Although not named in the film, it was widely acknowledged that Midler’s character was based on rock star, Janis Joplin. She relished the part and gave a convincing performance as a singer, battling with alcohol.

Midler has constantly shown her versatility and showed it again with two tribute albums to iconic stars. They are “Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook” and “Bette Midler Sings the Peggy Lee Songbook”, both produced by old collaborator, Barry Manilow. Midler always manages to make every song her own and Bette Midler songs promise a performer at the height of her powers.

Your Grandma’s Spirit Will Live On - Sapphire Engagement Rings

There are many people that believe that everyone has a soul or a spirit that lives on in some type of dimension once the body has died. The believes vary from culture to culture and from person to person within that culture but, there seems to be a common thread that some part of us goes on after death. My beliefs are complicated and have evolved throughout my life time. I believe in some sort of life after death and I believe that parts of our spirits can be reborn and attached to others that come after us.

I know this sounds very strange but my grandmother’s spirit seems to have been reborn in my daughter. The two of them never met, yet my daughter has so many of the same characteristics that it is uncanny. The physical resemblance is remarkable. And there are also many of the same mannerisms. Anyone that knew my grandmother remarks on the similarities when they meet my daughter. It seems only fitting that my daughter should have the sapphire engagement rings that my grandmother left to me.

My grandmother was quite a woman. She came to this country as a young girl. She was very attractive and as a result won the hearts of many different young men. She used to love to tell the story about having four engagement rings at one time. Two of them were sapphire engagement rings and one was a ruby and one was a diamond. She would laugh that it was my grandfather that gave her the diamond. She wore that diamond everyday until her death, but she also kept the sapphire engagement rings on a necklace that she wore under her clothing. The sapphire engagement rings are beautiful. One is a lighter very clear stone and the other one is darker. As with most antique jewelry the settings are beautifully crafted and the stones are of high quality. My grandmother had very blue eyes, I am sure that is what prompted her two suitors to buy sapphires.

My daughter has heard many stories about her great grandmother through the years. She has seen photographs of her and agrees that they do look alike. My father would comment on this every time he saw my daughter. He would walk into a room and say that he felt like he was looking at his mother. I hope the genes and the rings will guide my daughter to be as loving and caring as my grandmother was. I think this will happen because of the piece of my grandmother’s spirit that lives within her.