Shock and awe filled my Friday night. While browsing my TV channels, seeking a little distraction from my fiendish Florida flu symptoms, I stumbled upon the PBS channel where a Streisand concert was beginning, "Barbra Streisand, Back to Brooklyn". My flu symptoms disappeared for the next two hours.

She is a Goddess . . . I'm uncertain of Barbra's age but she must be in her 70's. I hadn't seen any pictures of her for years so was totally shocked by her appearance. Her face looked almost ghoulish, a little creepy, perhaps, zombie-like. And, it was the face of a little girl with long blond hair. Half her famous nose was missing. Her stage makeup lacked any noticeable bit of lipstick, eye liner or blush. Someone went overboard attempting to disguise her 70 plus years. Why do that? She is a Goddess and we want to share the grey hair, wrinkles and age spots with her.

Barbra's gait was a slow shuffle with stiff body movements as if she were about to snap in half. She frequently grabbed and hung on to carefully placed railings and chairs around her small stage. She walked a little and sat a lot.

I remember the youthful Barbra; the one with the nose and swan-like neck. The short tiny framed woman who took the stage seemingly ten feet tall and commanded our attention with her powerful voice. But, like so many of us, she has become top heavy. Her swan-like neck now appears as thick as a football player's. This was partially disguised by her long blond hair which looked so wrong on her. There was some noticeable weight around her middle but her legs seemed to remain slender. However, we only got a peek of them so would have to wonder if she didn't cover up her age spots there?

Speaking of age spots, there were none on her face nor the back of her hands and not one visible wrinkle. Again, I say, someone went too far to make her appear youthful when we would rather see her age along with us. But, it doesn't really matter . . . she is our Goddess of Song and we still worship her.

And, she sang. She tried so hard but her voice sounded old, weary from years of pleasing her fans. Barbra belting out tremendous sounds from her tiny body is no longer a reality. The power is not there any more. She softened her tone many times as she struggled to get through song after song. Sometimes her voice was raspy or it stuttered a bit and broke. She worked so hard to smoothly execute through these rough patches. But, it didn't matter. She still received constant standing ovations. Women cried and old men cheered.

The concert's theme was about looking back over her life which began in Brooklyn. There were pictures of her from childhood. She talked about her life and made little comments throughout, relating to aging. The audience was enthralled, sitting forward in their seats to get closer to her . . . they are still captivated by their Goddess.

Barbra had an orchestra, back-up singers, clothes changes (including heels to flats then back to heels for her finale). She had three handsome Italian teen-age boys gifted with fabulous voices who sang a couple of songs, giving her time to rest her voice. Her son, Jason Immanuel Gould, joined her on stage and they sang a duet. And, yes, he has the big voice. We didn't hear much of it because he did not sing over his mother's weakened voice. He is a 40 something year old man and she his doting Jewish mother.

The overall tone of the concert was one of reunion; returning to see old friends and remember 'back in the day' growing up in Brooklyn. It was about the end of a fabulous career. It saddened this writer but it was a beautiful sadness.

Bravo, applause, applause . . . to our Goddess of Song, Barbra Striesand.