by Dorothy Johnson of Reflections from Dorothy’s Ridge

Recently while traveling, a friend pointed out the car window at a rainbow in the distance. To the east, I caught a glimpse of its colors arching against a backdrop of dark clouds. I had seen water standing in the fields beside the highway and hoped the folks in the locale of the rainbow were happy about getting precipitation.

Poets and songwriters have long associated rain with disappointment and pain, and rainbows with happier times. Remember Judy Garland belting out “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” in The Wizard of Oz?

Even though it was written way back in 1921, everyone seems to know the lyrics to “April Showers.” Maybe that’s because it’s a hopeful song, admonishing us to expect good things to follow the inevitable rain. I think its author must have been familiar with Longfellow’s poem “The Rainy Day.”

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining / Behind the clouds is the sun still shining / Thy fate is the common fate of all, / Into each life some rain must fall, / Some days must be dark and dreary.

Those lines remind me of a tune from my youth, “Baby, the Rain Must Fall” by Glenn Yarbrough. It was the theme song for a 1965 movie of the same title starring Lee Remick and Steve McQueen that told the age-old story of a woman disappointed by an irresponsible man.

I lived my own version of that show. The details were different and don’t really matter. What does is that when I left, I managed to work through the hurt and not become bitter. It was a process, for sure. But I always seemed to have hope for a better life.

My husband experienced his own set of disappointments, but we eventually found each other. In July, we’ll celebrate 40 years of marriage. Maybe we’ve worked harder at our relationship because we both knew what we didn’t want. Loyalty and commitment haven’t hurt either. Whatever the case, I sometimes feel like I’ve been living under a double rainbow because our life has been so good.

Heartbreak knows no age. It can happen at any time of life. But happiness can come along, too, and doesn’t always involve another relationship. If you or someone you know is picking up the pieces from any kind of loss, take heart. Better days are sure to follow. Watch for them.

Sometimes it’s not a major heartbreak that gets us down as much as facing the dullness and sameness of difficult circumstances or embracing change over which we have no control. If you’re in that place, order the movie Singing in the Rain and watch Gene Kelley, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O’Connor sing and dance their way through pouring showers. They were amazing dancers. Their energy and enthusiasm always makes me smile.

Whatever your circumstances, today I wish you hope and joy and the conviction that the sun will surely come out again.

As I wrote this, an amazing number of songs about rain and pain that have been popular through the years played through my mind—too many to list. So I’ll leave that to you. Which ones do you remember?

I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten… Joel 2:25a

Dorothy Johnson is an Arkansas girl who has rediscovered the joys of the written word. She writes from a ridge overlooking the Arkansas River and feels blessed to wake up to that view every day.  She says she’s lived long enough to understand the importance of exercising good judgment and the pain that comes when we don’t. She’s enjoying having a place to share her reflections on life and hopes you’ll join her, be encouraged and share your thoughts along the way.
twitter: @dorothysridge