The Silence Between Hello

Sister Songs Ep 7: "Duet"

SISTER SONGS SEASON 3 Episode 7: "Duet"  In music, a duet is two voices playing together. Two melodies intertwining. Two people listening to each other, responding, making space, finding harmony. That's what we finally learned to do, Annemarie and me. After the silence. After the letters. After everything. We learned how to play together again. Today is March 4th, 2026 — two years since my sister died. In this episode: A duet we recorded in her living room in Longview. An Airbnb near the Bridge of the Gods where she played "Annie's Song" on the piano. A movie about Barbie. Forbidden music on the drive home. A question in a Portland restaurant I still don't know how to answer. Marco Polos in a helium voice. A pact about funerals we both broke in different ways. A grave I lay down on. A poem I read into the wind. And the sister who taught me that love, in the end, was more important than faith.  Music: * "Clair de Lune" — Debussy * "The Entertainer" — Scott Joplin * "Gnossienne No. 1" — Erik Satie * "Sarabande" — Handel * "Comptine d'un autre été" — Yann Tiersen (performed by Annemarie) * "Nearer My God to Thee" — Traditional hymn * "God Be With You Till We Meet Again" — Traditional hymn * Original duet recording by Jenny & Annemarie, August 2022 * Additional tracks licensed via Envato Elements Thank you: To Sandy, for her friendship, her stories, and for sending me the recording of Annemarie's hands on the piano. To Angie, for her musical guidance and for standing at the front of a restaurant in New York City and reading a poem over my marriage. To James and Frankie, for putting up with endless playbacks. And to you, for listening.

Sister Songs Ep 6: "Accompaniment"

SISTER SONGS SEASON 3 Episode 6: "Accompaniment"  In music, an accompaniment is the part that supports the melody. It's not the main voice — it's the harmony underneath, the chords that hold everything together. The accompaniment doesn't take center stage. But without it, the song falls apart. Annemarie couldn't be at my wedding. But she accompanied me anyway. In this episode: A lifetime of loving weddings together — from Princess Diana to Harry and Meghan. A laptop propped up at Loring Place so she could watch from Longview. A Marco Polo of her twirling in a pink dress, worried about looking fat, laughing at herself. Fried chicken shipped on dry ice. Baby blue silk pajamas I opened at bridal breakfast. A poem about managing your husband. And the dinner we said we'd have someday — the four of us, together — that never came.  Music: * "Passacaglia" — Traditional * "Spring" from The Four Seasons — Vivaldi * "Minuet in G Major" — Bach * "Für Elise" & "Moonlight Sonata" — Beethoven * "Clair de Lune" — Debussy * "Abide With Me" — Traditional hymn * Additional tracks licensed via Envato Elements Read more: jennyskoog.substack.com [https://jennyskoog.substack.com/] Content note: This season discusses terminal illness, death, religious trauma, and family estrangement.

Sister Songs Ep 5: "Minor Key"

SISTER SONGS SEASON 3 Episode 5: "Minor Key"  In music, a minor key isn't necessarily sad. It's just different. The intervals between notes are smaller. The sound is darker, more complex. A song can be beautiful in a minor key. But you feel the weight of it. Memorial Day weekend, 2022. That's when the key changed.  In this episode: A reunion at the airport after ten years apart. A pact we made in the car about our parents' funerals. A gym, a treadmill, and something wrong with my sister's head. A panic attack. A train back to Longview without saying goodbye. A 35-minute subway ride where I googled "glioblastoma" and fell apart. A phone call in the Oculus. And the summer we learned how much time we had left.  Music: * "Nearer My God to Thee" — Traditional hymn * "Gnossienne No. 1" — Erik Satie * "Piano Sonata No. 16 in C Major" (Allegro) — Mozart * "Canon in D" — Pachelbel * "Ave Maria" (Bach/Gounod) * "Für Elise" — Beethoven * "Scarborough Fair" — Traditional * Additional tracks licensed via Envato Elements Read more: jennyskoog.substack.com [https://jennyskoog.substack.com/] Content note: This season discusses terminal illness, death, religious trauma, and family estrangement.

Sister Songs Ep 4: "Bridge"

SISTER SONGS SEASON 3 Episode 4: "Bridge" In music, a bridge is the passage that connects two sections of a song. It's not the verse or the chorus. It's the thing that gets you from one to the other — a shift in key, a change in texture, a moment where the song becomes something new. The bridge between Annemarie and me was built out of letters. In this episode: A Christmas gift. A phone call on a long walk through Harlem. Bloody Marys at a Mexican restaurant across from a church called "The Church of Truth." The nieces and nephews who called her the Awesome Aunt. A letter that told me to become an author. And the sister who believed in me before I believed in myself.  Music: * "Piano Sonata No. 16 in C Major" (Allegro) — Mozart * "Waltz in G-flat Major, Op. 70, No. 1" — Chopin * "Minuet in G Major" — Bach * "Für Elise" — Beethoven * "Canon in D" — Pachelbel * Additional tracks licensed via Envato Elements Read more: jennyskoog.substack.com [https://jennyskoog.substack.com/] Content note: This season discusses terminal illness, death, religious trauma, and family estrangement.

Sister Songs Ep 3: "Rest"

SISTER SONGS SEASON 3 Episode 3: "Rest" In music, a rest is a silence written into the score. It's not a mistake. It's not the absence of music. It's a deliberate pause — a breath the composer wanted you to take. My sister and I had a rest that lasted four years. In this episode: Displacement. A birthday card that said everything sideways. A crisis I can't talk about. A family that loved each other badly. A man named Steve who protected her boundaries. A secret wedding I found out about through the grapevine. And the letters that finally broke the silence. Music: * "Moonlight Sonata" & "Für Elise" — Beethoven * "Gnossienne No. 1" — Erik Satie * "Clair de Lune" — Debussy * "Wedding March" — Mendelssohn (organ) * "Sarabande" — Handel * "Passacaglia" — traditional * Additional tracks licensed via Envato Elements Read more: jennyskoog.substack.com [https://jennyskoog.substack.com/] Content note: This season discusses terminal illness, death, religious trauma, and family estrangement.