Music... my constant companion. My sister Steph supposedly sang before she could talk. My earliest memories include laying on the floor in the St. Paul house and watching the reel to reel as I listened to the music. Paige was 2 or 3 when we sang a trio at my uncles' wedding. Music has introduced me to friends, paid for my dinner, given my sisters one more thing to share. It has become one more language to speak when the years have taken traditional conversation from my great grandparents, and something to hypnotize my babies with before they know how to say one word. My parents would sing in the car on trips, they arranged music together, practiced together, Dad played guitar and learned to harmonize from mom. We made a "tape" when we were all in elementary school and then sang at camps, banquets, churches, prisons, outdoor venues and sold them. Mom got us all playing piano and Steph violin lessons. Steph ended up playing in the Edmonton Youth Orchestra at a very young age. When "band" became an option in school, mom told us all to play the drums. She wanted to hear us play when she came to the concert. She didn't want our sound buried in among the other flutes, trombones, clarinets. It wasn't for coolness that *all* of us took drums. It was so that mom could hear *her* kid in the band! We joined the choirs at church and school. Mom wrote music and poetry and we caught a glimpse of her faith when she sang the song she wrote "I'll Trust You Lord". It's from her that we all took the leap and continue to make the attempt at writing music. Dad would tell us never ending stories from his guitar, playing as he told the story and we were hooked early on. As teens we looked forward to the nights mom and dad would invite all their music friends over to sing and play. I remember laughing at their crazy songs like "King of the Road", "Ghost Riders in the Sky", "Sue City Sue". I also remember one get together when their good friend Anne Eagle sang. They were going around the circle and joining in on all the good songs. Anne was requested to sing a specific song. I don't remember which song it was but it was a praise song to God. She was sitting on the floor against the wall and just closed her eyes and started to sing. The sound was full and rich and filled the whole basement. My chest ached as she sang and the whole room sat in awed silence. Music has been passed on to me on 80's mix tapes, long ski-trips sharing earphones with friends, extended radio listening sessions locked away in bedrooms and recording what we could off of the radio when we didn't have means to buy it. I feasted on music by sifting through the record collection in the KSS music room and staying hours after school to listen to Bob Marley, Billy Holiday, Jaco Pastorious, Earth Wind and Fire, Manteca, Steve Gadd, staying out late at the coffee houses (Igor Okos and Cafe Safari) to jam with my sisters and friends on the drums and congas till the early hours. None of us were partiers or drinkers, but we soaked up the music. Our church choir was vibrant in those days as well singing powerful Brooklyn Tab songs and we got involved in the huge Christmas productions every year. These days, when my sisters come, we share new music we've written, songs we've discovered lately....It continues to be a kind of thread that joins each new generation to the last. So thankful for this treasure... Another offering to return to the One who gave the gift to begin with.
