A love affair

Lots of things have been going on amok in my life. It's been a bumpy ride for some time now. My present journey brought me back to music. To music for God, specifically. Before crafting, before sewing and such, I had a love for music. Which was promptly nipped in the bud by a choir director who sent me packing my bags. He said I was no good at singing, that I sang off key, and he did not have a girl's guitar class, so I was dismissed very ungracefully. I was 11 years old.

When I was 13, the Church of Santa Maria called for auditions for a new choir. 80 teenagers and youths showed up, me included. What can I say, I was an optimist, I had just had a lesion in dance class that had me wait for some time and since I had to fill the quota of classes, I sat in guitar class, so at least I knew there was something like a music scale.

To my amazement, I was one of the 25 chosen to remain and be part of the choir. I had to chose an instrument because -surprise!- I was not a singer. I knew it, accepted it and was thrilled to be part of it. I was the only girl playing guitar. I had to prove my worth, that' s what I thought when I picked my instrument. The other girls took what I considered cute instruments, really coquetish and pretty, like mandolins (still wish I'd learned to play one), tambourines, tubular bells and so. Our choir director did a wonderful job. Even if I wasn't a "voice" I felt part of something great, so great that I sang all day long when I could. I think I sang more than I practiced my guitar skills.

We performed for some years, had great times, switched director, and one day, a very odd thing happened. The musicians had rehearsal before the voices, and we were playing a song that I loved, called "Maravilloso Dios", Wonderful God. So, I start singing it just so we would see if the tempo was right. Well, it had been a couple of years and all that singing, well guess what it was? Practice! The director heard me and asked me to sing again. And then told me I would sing the song next Sunday Mass.

Oh. My.

Talk about scary. By now, a bit of the shine had worn off and two things I knew: I really had to give my best next Sunday.

And no matter what happened, I would be in hot water with "the voices".

To be continued....