Will our daughters stay "our girls" after their wedding night?

Cassie Girl

“Smith College’s Loss” is a Quabbin Valley Folk recording written in response to a fatal house fire in Northampton that claimed the life of longtime Smith College professor Thalia Pandiri. The song reflects on teaching, language, and community loss, closing with a solo violin dedication performed in her memory.

“Smith College’s Loss” by Quabbin Valley Folk reflects on a Northampton tragedy and honors a lifetime of teaching at Smith. Closing with a solo violin dedication, the song holds grief, memory, and gratitude together.
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Verse 1
On Fort Hill Terrace, just after nine
Blue lights cut through a winter line
Sirens climbing the quiet street
Fire and smoke where neighbors meet
A house once filled with lamps and books
Now held its breath as the flames took hold
One life ended in the heat and dark
A scholar's voice, a lasting mark

Verse 2
Fifty six years in the classroom light
Teaching ancient words to live and fight
Greek and Latin, stories told
Worlds made new from texts so old
She taught how language carries pain
How myth and loss still speak our name
Students learned to read with care
To see the truth buried there

Chorus
Smith College's loss, Northampton's grief
A life of meaning, a life of belief
From every page, her lessons stay
Though the fire took her breath away
Candles glow where questions were
A mind that shaped a future here
Smith College's loss, a quiet bell
For a life that taught us well

Verse 3
Firefighters worked an hour or more
Holding the line at the burning door
One soul gone, another safe
Fragile margins that fate can make
The cause still hidden, answers slow
Only ashes left to show
How fast the ordinary breaks
How little time a fire takes

Verse 4
In lecture halls and shaded paths
Her work still walks where students pass
Translation bridges time and voice
Giving lost words a living choice
She asked us why old stories last
Why love and loss outlive the past
Those questions echo even now
In every vow, in every vow

Chorus
Smith College's loss, Northampton's grief
A life of meaning, a life of belief
From every page, her lessons stay
Though the fire took her breath away
Candles glow where questions were
A mind that shaped a future here
Smith College's loss, a quiet bell
For a life that taught us well

Outro
Tonight the hill is dark and still
Smoke has faded, the cold air fills
But what she gave cannot be burned
It lives in every mind she turned
Smith College's loss, we say her name
In learning, memory, and flame

Sparrows over Birmingham

Josh Rouse

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