Tunesday Part II : Glory of Love

 

Glory of Love

(Foster, D; Nini, D; Cetera, P) Performed by Peter Cetera

Tonight it's very clear as we're both lyin' here
There's so many things I want to say
I will always love you
I would never leave you alone

Sometimes I just forget, say things I might regret
It breaks my heart to see you cryin'
I don't want to lose you
I could never make it alone

I am a man who will fight for your honor
I'll be the hero you're dreamin' of
We'll live forever, knowin' together
That we did it all for the glory of love

You keep me standing tall, you help me through it all
I'm always strong when you're beside me
I have always needed you
I could never make it alone

I am a man who will fight for your honor
I'll be the hero you've been dreamin' of
We'll live forever, knowin' together
That we did it all for the glory of love

It's like a knight in shining armor from a long time ago
Just in time I will save the day
Take you to my castle far away

I am a man who will fight for your honor
I'll be the hero that you're dreamin' of
We're gonna live forever, knowin' together
That we did it all for the glory of love

We'll live forever (we'll live forever), knowin' together (knowin' together)
That we did it all for the glory of love

Ooh
We did it all for love
We did it all for love
We did it all for love
We did it all for love

Just the day after Rudy's funeral, we went into Toronto to see Ben Schwartz and Friends — a live comedy improv show — because we had bought the tickets months earlier, and because we know that Rudy would never begrudge us an evening of lightness during our grief.

Before the intermission, as is the way with this show, Ben Schwartz asked the audience if anyone wanted to share their "most told story", and it is a testament to how funny and clever this improv group is that they took two very ordinary stories and blended them into a hilarious one act play.

At the intermission, Kennedy said that it's too bad we weren't sitting closer because she would have loved to share her favourite story: About Zach's coworker who went on to marry a woman who cosplayed as a sexy Pennywise the Clown; first at conventions and then on OnlyFans. 

When we returned from intermission, the improv group was on the stage, warming up again with inside gags, and when Ben Schwartz stabbed his finger at the air above him, this song began playing — a call back from the first half of the show — and he said he wanted it to play every time someone killed it and he pointed at the air.

As soon as he began to ask for more audience suggestions, Mal yelles out, "Ben! Ben! Over here! My SISTER!!" Ben laughed and sent the mic guy to Mal and replied, "It's our experience that it never works out when someone is nominated by the person sitting next to them. What's your story?"

Mal answered, "I don't really have a story but I can tell you something embarrassing. I used to photoshop pictures of you and me kissing." 

Ben waved his hands and said, "OK, OK. Give the mic to your sister. What's your story."

Kennedy began to describe what I wrote above and Ben encouraged her to go on. Dave started recording there:

Kennedy just absolutely crushed this — they let her go on for almost ten minutes and Ben asked her at one point if she's a comedy writer because her cadence is "very, very funny". The audience laughed along at everything she said, at one point they started chanting her name, and Ben pointed in the air more than once to have this song play for her.

The comedy group did an amazing and hilarious job of acting out her story, all while combining in elements from the first half of the show, and it felt like a moment of grace to have the worst week of our lives end in a brief span of joy.

After the show, many people congratulated Kennedy on her experience — two of her friends, separately, had been at the show and hugged Kennedy in the lobby — and even on the sidewalk afterwards, people from the audience were chanting her name. Kennedy even had people talking about her on Ben Schwartz's instagram account the next day; at least one person reaching out to Kennedy with a (side-hustle) job offer. It was just what Kennedy, and the rest of us, needed.

And, you know, we can't help thinking that Rudy may have been pulling some strings from the beyond to buoy Kennedy and Mal's spirits this week. We learned, after Rudy's passing, that Mal got a great new job that will be starting soon. And Kennedy — whose boss gave her a bit of attitude for wanting a bereavement week — not only received nothing but accolades for the tender eulogy she gave for Rudy on Thursday, her comedic gifts were able to be displayed the very next night; how wonderful to be reminded that she is so much more than a soul-crushing office job. Would it feel more like a sign if I mentioned that the timestamp on the text where Mal shared this video with the family was 11:11 pm? I felt an immense lift in my spirits after this show — a reflection of the joy that both Mal and Kennedy received while speaking to Ben Schwartz; someone they have admired for years — but I guess that's just the glory of love; on Earth and beyond.

We'll live forever (we'll live forever), knowin' together (knowin' together)

That we did it all for the glory of love