I have a ton of old letters too.
Back in 1989 I made a tape for Christmas and sent everybody in the family a cassette. It was just me playing recorded music I loved, reading some of my poems, and just talking as I drove to work. This year my sister resurrected it and made CDs of that and another that my parents made in 1982 in which they read some of those poems and Mom sang old songs, her voice still beautiful in her 70s, and a CD of my mother's singing dating from 1942 that she had recorded on 78 RPM records. I remember when she made some of those recordings and always loved them, but I had NO IDEA how beautiful her voice was until now after she's gone.
I humbly believe that my mother could have had a career on the opera stage, but she chose a Marine and a family, and satisfied herself by singing in minstrel shows, church, and funerals. Hearing her singing "Oh Holy Night" is something I hope to do now every year for the rest of my life. I've toyed with the idea of making a Youtube thing out of it, but not sure how my siblings would take such a personal thing. You would be amazed, I'm sure.
I wrote this poem for her many years ago:
Mother's Choice, A Small Libretto
The world offered opera
A stage for her voice
Lucky for us
It wasn't her choice.
My Dad always said, and we repeat to ourselves often: "We are lucky peoples."
I am never more aware of that than when I see the wreckage of people and families on some of these reality shows that are popular right now. |
