An Evening with Neil Diamond

I enjoyed the great good fortune a few nights ago to attend a Neil Diamond concert. As a woman entering my 60’s, he sings an era of music I can certainly relate to. And while a good percentage of the audience fit right into my peer group, there were also a number of people belonging to a younger generation who wouldn’t have nearly the same image pop into their heads as we did ours when he broke into “Sweet Caroline”.

Seated to my immediate right was an attractive young woman whom I would guess to be about 25. To her immediate right was her grandmother, a very spritely woman whom I would estimate to be somewhere in her seventies. And to her immediate right was the woman who linked these two together, the mother of the former and the daughter of the latter. These three ladies were having as much fun as I’ve observed anyone having in quite some time. My view was somewhat blocked of the woman who was the mother of one and the daughter of the other, but the granddaughter and grandmother were clapping and hollering with the best of them. It was a hot night (sure wish I could get “Hot August Night” in their somehow!) and shortly after arriving on the stage, Mr. Diamond shed a vest he was wearing. I heard a “Whoop! Take it off!” via my right ear. When I turned my head, I realized it was the sweet little lady in her 70’s! Another time during the concert, Grandma and Granddaughter were not only clapping in unison, but they were bobbing their heads forward completely in tune with one another.

My point in relaying this observation is to relay what a wonderful celebration of life this evening was. Three generations of women, each with their own very distinct vision in their mind of “Solitary Man” or “Kentucky Woman”, connecting with one another as women will when listening to a famous musician, but also connecting with one another as family and all the myriad of emotions and personalities and history that that entails.

It was a wonderful evening for approximately 12,000 fans, in particular three women seated in Section 16B. Thank you, Mr. Diamond!