Epilogue Instrumental Outro
Epilogue
Instrumental Outro
Madison Square Garden, New York City
Nora prided herself on easily shifting with the tide. Adapting to new situations and making a plan B if needed. Hell, if life hadn’t taught her that, certainly her career in publishing had. And dancing beside her daughter and granddaughter at a Jonas Brothers concert was most definitely the plan B.
In the immortal words of the Rolling Stones, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.
” But the current wisdom being belted onstage by the JoBros (Ellie’s affectionate name for the boy band), who were covering the DNCE song, reminded them to why not just have their “Cake by the Ocean.” Nora preferred the more innocent and literal connotation of eating carbs beachside as she had in her youth, versus the sexualized overtones that had overtaken the song’s popular meaning, but alas, music was meant to be interpreted by the listener.
Ironically, the Rolling Stones album featured cake on the cover.
When Woodstock 50 was canceled just a month earlier, Nora had scrambled to find a replacement.
She’d promised Ellie a concert, and she intended to deliver.
The Jonas Brothers’ Happiness Begins tour felt fitting.
Born from their reconciliation, it symbolized the journey from youth to adulthood and coming together stronger, united.
Ellie was ecstatic, and Nora liked the meaning behind the tour.
Not to mention they were Ellie’s current musical crush.
The truth was, no revival could replace that epic summer of 1969. And perhaps that was a good thing. After all, Anne had been right; 1999 had turned into a disaster. Some moments in history were best left to memory and reminiscing, rather than repetition.
Thousands packed the arena, dancing, singing, waving their hands in the air.
Nora loved the thrill of a concert. The way the music thumped in her chest as though it were becoming a part of her very being.
Boy bands weren’t necessarily her vibe, but watching Ellie now reminded her of Anne in 1990 seeing New Kids on the Block. Music brought people together.
Some things never changed—teen girls screaming, the glow of stage lights, bass reverberating through the arena.
And then, some things were entirely new.
Instead of lighters, they lifted their cell phones, flashlights swaying like tiny stars as they sang.
Nora marveled at the mix of old and new, the timeless and transformed.
Every generation found its own beat, but the rhythm of love and rebellion never changed.
Ellie beamed toward the main stage, glitter makeup around her eyes, her youth and joy blazing bright. The Jonas Brothers danced their way down to a smaller stage out in the crowd, coming to stand right in front of them.
“We’re taking requests!” the one in the middle shouted, with a wag of his dark hair off his forehead.
“Please Be Mine,” Ellie shouted at the top of her lungs, clapping and hopping up and down on her feet.
The same young man pointed at her, a smile curving his lips as they started to sing. Ellie practically vibrated with happiness.
Anne nudged her hip playfully against her daughter’s. Nora realized what tonight was all about. The joy of music, the bond between three generations of women growing tighter with every lyric they shouted together.
It wasn’t Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, or Creedence Clearwater Revival, but this was the next generation’s soundtrack, and Nora was passing the torch.
Nora pulled out her cell phone, snapping photos of Anne and Ellie before turning the camera for a selfie of all three.
Then she asked a nearby concertgoer for one more.
Later, she’d add this one to her refrigerator beside the pictures of her and Anne at New Kids on the Block and then at Lilith Fair, the faded Polaroid of herself with her mother at Woodstock, and the one of her grandmother at a beach concert when music brought the light back to her faded eyes.
A collage of memories, time forever captured in the stillness of their smiling faces.
These were memories to cherish. Of all the gifts the years had given Nora, the ones she treasured most were the connections between the women in her life.
Tears of happiness, of loss too, pricked her eyes. Nora brushed them away. Now was not the time to tumble into the past. Now was the time for sweetness. For music. For making memories that would never fade, even when the song ended. For passing the melody on, one generation to the next.