July 1, 2020 — As the Governor’s “Stay at Home” order was taking hold back in mid-April, Cindy and I were trying to figure out how to celebrate our son Jeff’s birthday in late April without being able to be physically present. We had been sorting through a bunch of old photographs, and I had started making music videos for church, so we hit upon the idea of making a life-story music video for him. It didn’t take us too long to find the old vinyl “Ernie and Bert Sing-Along” record that we had totally memorized when the kids were small for a song for our birthday music video.
While selecting the right song for the birthday video, I also listened to “Living Hand in Hand,” which ends the first side of the record. It seemed like a perfect fit for the times we were (and still are) in. Making an arrangement that would work for fewer than the entire Sesame Street cast took some time – more time for Eddie to learn the bass part – much more time for all of us to work a recording date into our schedules – but FINALLY – here it is! While we are still having to live virtually “hand in hand,” most of the time, the sentiment is right on. Maybe this song can still be a theme song for you as you grapple with the various frustrations that mark these times.