If I Had A Say....part 2
Last March I posted about a personal struggle with losing my voice for 8 years and getting it back. (If I Had a Say) This is a follow up to that post.
For those who read through the original story, the voice has continued to function normally, and has progressed to about as near 100% as I can tell....hard to make a direct comparison because the voice (and everything else) is 8 years older!
I've been singing with our choir when I can, but my work schedule is the number one obstacle now.
Last month we lost a favorite uncle unexpectedly to cancer....he died at age 69 six weeks from the time he was diagnosed. A few days before he passed, my aunt asked how I'd feel about singing at his funeral. I told her I'd be honored and more nervous than a longtailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs! My uncle had an amazing baritone voice and sang at our wedding, both of his children's weddings, and numerous other occasions throughout the years.
As the days approached before the funeral service I was already fretting about my solo. My wife asked why I agreed to do it if it bothered me so much....the answer was for my uncle, for my mother, for my aunt, and for me because I spent 8 years without that ability and wasn't about to let being nervous be the reason I declined! The song was well known and fairly simple...Amazing Grace. I knew that my uncle's church choir would be singing, but I didn't know that the Genessee Choral Society was going to join them. There was more than 50 of them sprawling across the altar, and they were directed by a PHD grad from the Eastman School of Music c....an impressive choir to say to the least. So the pressure builds a little more as I'm thinking anyone of them could probably step up and do justice to this solo. Also, little did I know that I'd be scheduled to sing just after my cousin eulogized his father! It was incredibly touching and I did my best to think about the football season, raking leaves, anything to keep me from getting all choked up! The moment finally came and went, I lived to tell about it, I didn't screw anything up, and my Mom of course thought it was terrific.
Nothing quite as dramatic as getting my voice back, but I wanted to share the moment with a followup.
Thanks, and God Bless!
For those who read through the original story, the voice has continued to function normally, and has progressed to about as near 100% as I can tell....hard to make a direct comparison because the voice (and everything else) is 8 years older!
I've been singing with our choir when I can, but my work schedule is the number one obstacle now. Last month we lost a favorite uncle unexpectedly to cancer....he died at age 69 six weeks from the time he was diagnosed. A few days before he passed, my aunt asked how I'd feel about singing at his funeral. I told her I'd be honored and more nervous than a longtailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs! My uncle had an amazing baritone voice and sang at our wedding, both of his children's weddings, and numerous other occasions throughout the years.
As the days approached before the funeral service I was already fretting about my solo. My wife asked why I agreed to do it if it bothered me so much....the answer was for my uncle, for my mother, for my aunt, and for me because I spent 8 years without that ability and wasn't about to let being nervous be the reason I declined! The song was well known and fairly simple...Amazing Grace. I knew that my uncle's church choir would be singing, but I didn't know that the Genessee Choral Society was going to join them. There was more than 50 of them sprawling across the altar, and they were directed by a PHD grad from the Eastman School of Music c....an impressive choir to say to the least. So the pressure builds a little more as I'm thinking anyone of them could probably step up and do justice to this solo. Also, little did I know that I'd be scheduled to sing just after my cousin eulogized his father! It was incredibly touching and I did my best to think about the football season, raking leaves, anything to keep me from getting all choked up! The moment finally came and went, I lived to tell about it, I didn't screw anything up, and my Mom of course thought it was terrific.
Nothing quite as dramatic as getting my voice back, but I wanted to share the moment with a followup. Thanks, and God Bless!
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