--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When, on their twenty-fifth wedding…" description: "\"“When, on their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, Jerome had played his parents an ethereal, far more beautiful version of 'Hallelujah' by a kid called..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b4/zadie-smith-584_central-park_when-on-their-twenty-fifth-wedding-anniv_2357572.jpg" --- # When, on their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, Jerome… ![“When, on their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, Jerome had played his parents an ethereal, far more beautiful version of 'Hallelujah' by a kid called Buckley, Kiki had thought yes, that's right, our memories are getting more beautiful and less real every day. And then the kid drowned in the…” quote by Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b4/zadie-smith-584_central-park_when-on-their-twenty-fifth-wedding-anniv_2357572.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b4/zadie-smith-584_central-park_when-on-their-twenty-fifth-wedding-anniv_2357572.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b4/zadie-smith-584_central-park_when-on-their-twenty-fifth-wedding-anniv_2357572.jpg) > ““When, on their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, Jerome had played his parents an ethereal, far more beautiful version of 'Hallelujah' by a kid called Buckley, Kiki had thought yes, that's right, our memories are getting more beautiful and less real every day. And then the kid drowned in the Mississippi, recalled Kiki now, looking up from her knees to the colourful painting that hung behind Carlene's empty chair. Jerome had wept: the tears you cry for someone whom you never met who made something beautiful that you loved. Seventeen years earlier, when Lennon died, Kiki had dragged Howard to Central Park and wept while the crowd sang 'All You Need is Love' and Howard ranted bitterly about Milgram and mass psychosis.”” [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage reflects on how memories and art become more idealized yet less tangible over time, and how grief connects us to strangers through shared beauty. **In simple terms:** Memories grow beautiful but less real; grief links us to unknown creators. Key Takeaway Cherish moments, recognize the fleeting nature of memory. Themes memory art grief nostalgia connection Mood melancholic reflective nostalgic Type literary philosophical emotional When to use this quote - wedding anniversaries - listening to music - public memorials - personal loss - art appreciation Key Concepts idealization collective mourning psychology cultural memory Questions to Reflect On - How does art change our perception of loss? - In what ways do we idealize memories? A Different Perspective The narrative may romanticize tragedy, overlooking the pain of loss. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Central park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/central-park/) [Died Kiki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/died-kiki-5761815/) [Every day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/every-day/) [Jerome Wept](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jerome-wept-5761814/) [Lennon Died](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lennon-died-432328/) [Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Wedding anniversary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wedding-anniversary/) [Wept](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wept/) [Wept Tears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wept-tears-470337/) ## Related quotes > [I remember that, before John Lennon died, everyone was saying that Rolling Stone couldn't do good reporting anymore. But when he died, they wrote…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cameron-crowe/i-remember-that-before-john-lennon-died-everyone-was-saying-that/) [Cameron Crowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cameron-crowe/) > [I got my first guitar when I was nine because I wanted to be the fifth Beatle, even though they had already broken up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tig-notaro/i-got-my-first-guitar-when-i-was-nine-because-i-wanted-to-be-the/) [Tig Notaro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tig-notaro/) > [One of the few times I saw my mother cry was when Lennon died, and the other time was when Elvis died.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-taylor-wood/one-of-the-few-times-i-saw-my-mother-cry-was-when-lennon-died-and-the/) [Sam Taylor-Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-taylor-wood/) > [There's no real animosity, anymore... Me and Paul had a good team and we still are a good team. 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Torn all the while between fear of offending and shame at his own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/he-racked-his-brains-for-a-way-of-making-his-declaration-torn-all-the/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [I cry myself to sleep sometimes, wept the and the tears From malice, divorce meets to lost peers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-grae/i-cry-myself-to-sleep-sometimes-wept-the-and-the-tears-from-malice/) [Jean Grae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-grae/) > [“She let Howard reinvent, retouch. 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I don't like them around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/i-don-t-keep-any-copies-of-my-books-in-the-house-they-go-to-my-mum-s/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [But it makes an immigrant laugh to hear the fears of the nationalist, scared of infection, penetration, miscegenation, when this is small fry, peanuts,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/but-it-makes-an-immigrant-laugh-to-hear-the-fears-of-the-nationalist/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [Oh, I know that. You know me, baby, I cannot be broken. Takes a giant to snap me in half.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/oh-i-know-that-you-know-me-baby-i-cannot-be-broken-takes-a-giant-to/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [“In short, it was precisely the kind of friendship and Englishman makes on holiday, that he can make only on holiday. A friendship that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/in-short-it-was-precisely-the-kind-of-friendship-and-englishman-makes/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [I suppose I often think of my writing as quite impersonal. But it turned out, when my father died, writing was exactly what I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/i-suppose-i-often-think-of-my-writing-as-quite-impersonal-but-it/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [“Some of us are happy with our African hair, thank you very much. I don't want some poor Indian girl's hair. And I wish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/some-of-us-are-happy-with-our-african-hair-thank-you-very-much-i-don/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [You can't state difference and also state equality. We have to state sameness to understand equality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/you-can-t-state-difference-and-also-state-equality-we-have-to-state/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [“(Unlike many others around this time, Joyce felt no shame about using the term 'middle class'. In the Chalfen lexicon the middle classes were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/unlike-many-others-around-this-time-joyce-felt-no-shame-about-using/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [A lot of women, when they're young, feel they have very good friends, and find later on that friendship is complicated. It's easy to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/a-lot-of-women-when-they-re-young-feel-they-have-very-good-friends/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) [Explore all 457 Zadie Smith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) ## More Central park quotes > [“Then she began to mutter to herself and gesture to the empty air. oh. Sonny sighed. Just another central park crazy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lesley-livingston/then-she-began-to-mutter-to-herself-and-gesture-to-the-empty-air-oh/) [Lesley Livingston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lesley-livingston/) > [“But the heat and the drought were in some ways the least of it. On May 9 a colossal dust storm had swung out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-james-brown/but-the-heat-and-the-drought-were-in-some-ways-the-least-of-it-on-may/) [Daniel James Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-james-brown/) > [“Go ahead, throw this book away. Spit on me. Revile me. 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It was too warm for such an early spring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-sturgeon/she-was-perhaps-seventeen-when-it-happened-she-was-in-central-park-in/) [Theodore Sturgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-sturgeon/) > [When I thought about Detroit, I would think big city, very urban - not a lot of places to walk around, not a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erin-cummings/when-i-thought-about-detroit-i-would-think-big-city-very-urban-not-a/) [Erin Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erin-cummings/) > [“I once saw her throw a Juicy Fruit wrapper on the ground in Central Park. She doesn’t even feel guilty about littering.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-cabot/i-once-saw-her-throw-a-juicy-fruit-wrapper-on-the-ground-in-central/) [Meg Cabot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-cabot/) > [Back in the mid '90s, I went to a film festival, and they were airing 'Central Park West' at the same time as this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madchen-amick/back-in-the-mid-90s-i-went-to-a-film-festival-and-they-were-airing/) [Madchen Amick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madchen-amick/) > [And the most unusual and surrealistic place in New York City is Central Park.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christo/and-the-most-unusual-and-surrealistic-place-in-new-york-city-is/) [Christo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christo/) > [It was sweaty Whitney (Houston) in Central Park. She knew that park pretty well. 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