Realizing A Dream

St. John The Baptist Church, Westport, MA

I can't sleep. Celtic Christmas music is playing in my head. Actually, I'm still singing it in my head. I just completed singing in a three-day concert series with the Greater Tiverton Community Chorus in the Celtic Christmas Concert. I sang a little two-measure duet in the beautiful Welsh lullaby, Suo-Gan. As our music director, Beth, explained, this song was highlighted in the movie, Empire of The Sun. Each time I walked to the microphone, my throat was dry. Swallow, just find saliva and swallow, I thought. It came on demand, and I hit that first note. Once I accomplished that, the rest came easy. It was a very small part, but the positive and reassuring feedback I received from so many people, friends and strangers alike, felt incredible.



The weekend began with a full rehearsal on Thursday night. I sang so hard I strained my voice. I couldn't help myself. The music was so beautiful, I just had to belt it out! The next day, I had to stop talking, make ginger root tea with honey, and nurse my dry, scratchy throat for the first performance. I reviewed notes of the songs I was having the most trouble with silently.

The first performance in Bristol at St. Michael's Church was magical. I had never sung in this church before, as this was my first Christmas concert with the chorus. My husband came to all three performances, but two of my sisters with their significant others and a few friends from the gym came Friday night.

Trainers at my gym asked if I knew Phil from the chorus. There are almost eighty people in the group, so I am just beginning to meet them. I did not know Phil. But, as fate would have it, as we rehearsed in St. Michael's two of the taller male members stood in front of me and had changed position, so I and a woman behind me could not see Beth, our music director. I asked them to swap places with me and the woman to my right, and low and behold, I ended up standing next to Phil. He and I laughed when I told him the story of our trainers asking if I knew him, and his trainer sat in the front row at St. Michael's, thereby seeing for himself that we had indeed finally met. The high I got after this performance from positive feedback I received about my singing was marvelous.

The next night in Westport, MA at St. John the Baptist Church, my sister, Jeanne, and friend, Barbara (also my daughter-in-law's mother) attended. I was so excited to see them enter the church. They arrived early enough to hear my duet rehearsal and clapped happily, giving me a "thumbs up".  When, at the end of the performance, Beth invited attendees to come on stage to sing the "Hallelujah Chorus", Jeanne made her way through the crowd and joined me on my riser to sing. I was so happy to have her beside me. What a wonderful moment.

The last performance in Tiverton at St. Theresa's Church, was as packed as the previous two. Beth told us attendance at all three concerts far exceeded the history of the chorus. We were all thrilled to have such big and lively audiences. Friends from work and neighbors attended this last performance, and I was especially happy to see Lois, our wheelchair-bound friend sitting behind her daughter, Debi. I so wanted Lois to come. She doesn't get out much anymore and I knew the music would lift her spirits. She told me it absolutely did.

After we said our goodbye's, Larry and I headed to a choral member's house on the way to ours for the first-ever "after" party. We ate dinner with Beth and her husband, Stewart, and in so doing, were able to get to know them both a little better. We talked with a few people at the party, and it was nice to feel like we were making more new friends. This experience has allowed us both to meet people in the neighborhood, and set our respective roots down just a little deeper in this small Rhode Island town. Feeling a part of this community makes me happy to finally be ending our "gypsy" lifestyle.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy New Year! Do something to make you happy this season, and take at least one baby step toward realizing whatever your dream is. Mine has always been singing. "Here I am!"