Kenny Rankin, 67

We know we are getting old when our favorite singers are dying or are already dead. One by one they die as we try to live each day. Kenny Rankin, for example.

He died of lung cancer on Sunday at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in the US.

His songs are a ballad to my ear. I remember my uncle, who also is dead by the way, during his younger days. He loved Rankin and always sing his songs like Pussywillows and Cattails, Blackbird, Hiding Inside Myself, What Matters Most, etc.

This one is my favorite.

It's not how long we held each other's hand
What matters is how well we loved each other
It's not how far we travelled on our way
Of what we found to say
It's not the spring you see, but all the shades of green

It's not how long I held you in my arms
What matters is how sweet the years together
It's not how many summertimes we had to give to fall
The early morning smiles we tearfully recall
What matters most is that we loved at all.

It's not how many summertimes we had to give to fall
The early morning smiles we tearfully recall
What matters most is that we loved at all.

What matters most is that we loved at all.

Photo from emiliogrossi.com