tears and sniffling

Last night was the annual Kennedy Center Honors - at least the broadcast on television was; they actually took place earlier this month. And just like every year, I found myself welling up with tears. I just love these kinds of tributes.

In one instance, a moment reminded me of something else entirely, but this show does that to me. During the tribute to Oprah Winfrey, her partner Stedman, who was sitting behind her, leaned forward and put his hands on her shoulders. I thought he was about to rest his head on her shoulder (well, realistically he wasn't going to) - and it brought me back to when my mom was in a wheelchair in her last year with us, after she had suffered a stroke and also had brain cancer. To prop her head straight up, I sometimes found myself sitting behind her tiny wheelchair and placing my head upon her shoulder; she would then lean her head next to mine. I was fearful of putting too much weight upon her shoulder and wouldn't do this for too long, but now that she has passed on, how I wish I could do so again. Anyway, this was a moment I found the tears welling up - in fact, they are welling up as I type this.

There were other moments I found myself getting emotional during last night's telecast, not so personal in nature, but still touched all the same. The tribute to Paul McCartney was quite special, and I really enjoyed the performances. They did a nice job with the video too - when so much has already been done to honor the Beatles, how can one possibly create something new? But they managed to.

I found myself wondering last night how much of the show was shown on television and whether the performances were actually longer at the time they occurred. Did Chris Rock's comedy bit for Oprah last longer but was edited for TV? He was funny, and it seemed to be too brief.