30 Day Writing Challenge 2 - 4/15/16: Song

This one is almost so easy and yet so broad a topic I hardly know where to start....

The gift of song has been a part of my life as long as I can recall. Not just music but singing too. I grew up in a congregation and a faith tradition that -- for every other thing I might consider a negative trait -- believed in singing and that you'd best open your mouth to sing, or at least lip-synch. So from nursery school songs like "Jesus Loves Me" and "Zaccheus the Little Man" onward, I always sang. By age 8, I was joining my parents in the congregational choir. We did not have a choir in the traditional sense -- anyone who wanted to sing was welcome to come to the choir loft. And like my mother, I sang alto because ... well, what else was I supposed to sing? 

I found out in junior high.... That was when I was assigned to Advanced Girls Choir as a first soprano. It was two weeks of misery. I begged Mrs. Campbell to move me, I was an alto! Nope, she moved me to second soprano. Another week of torture. Finally, after I cried enough, she moved me to alto .... and after the Christmas concert, told me, "okay, you were right, you are an alto."

Well, technically I'm a mezzo-soprano. Yeaaaahhhh, after all these years, who'd have imagined? I have finally FINALLY gotten to a three-octave range. It took long enough but I can finally go C3 to C6 but I do have to be really warmed up. 

But more important to me than all that is my voice and how precious it has become to me of late. It was six weeks ago today that I sat at my mother's bedside on her last full day of life. I thanked her for the countless gifts shed given me and especially for music -- and song. I told her that I had her voice and how much I loved it. And I do.

Back in the day, my mother's voice was a booming alto -- and if she had a mind to carry a melody or get really into a song? Oh. Mah. Gawd. Axl Rose-like...... Well, back when Axl was worth a damn. And I can do the same, though I aim to sound more like Chris Cornell (that range!) I laugh because one of my fellow cantors had told me last fall to sing out more -- and I had usually held back because I have such a fear of overpowering everyone.

But most important is what my song is...... It is a song of love, joy, sadness, heartbreak, rebirth, pit stops along the way, and hope. My life is my song. I only hope when the last chord is played, it will be a beautiful resolution to everything.