Day 16: There’s Always Room for Music

I did mention, didn’t I that we used to sing when we went on long car rides. My poor husband thinks we’re all a bit nuts, and gives me worried sideways looks when I try to liven up our trips by singing. Well, he used to, I think after ten years he’s gotten used to my oddities.

That wasn’t the only singing we did, however. Some of my earliest memories were of my mom singing in church–both solos and in the choir–singing around the house, in The Messiah, and I can’t forget “Good Mornin’, Good Mornin’ ” from Singing in the Rain, though, of course I didn’t know where the song came from then. That one was particularly irritating when we were devotedly trying to ignore the alarm clock and sleep in.

The house was always full of music, which is probably why all of my sisters play instruments (some of them more than one)–notice, I did not include myself in that number. And most of us sing in public. Since all of the other girls in my family play the piano, we always had music for Christmas Eve programs, Family Home Evening, and the like, which added so much to the meeting.

Music is also really hard for me to ignore. One Monday night when I was in high school I wanted to go to the school play. I had already been once and my parents told me no, it was Family Home Evening. I admit, I went to my room to sulk while they all met together downstairs. That was until they started singing the opening song. I want to say it was “Love at Home,” though it might have been one of the other similarly themed songs in the hymn book. It was way too hard for me to hold onto my anger when there was music like that permeating my room. I don’t think I ever told my parents, but that song was why I came downstairs and joined them for the meeting.

There were lots of other times when songs gave me comfort, bouyed me up when I was having a rough day. I may have been ‘singing’ primary songs in my crib before I could talk, but without the solid love of music shared in my home, I doubt I would have grown to love it so much.