Ask Linda Anything!

Did You Know I Am Also A Choir Director?
Submitted By Anonymous

I always think it’s funny that people who know you in one way are always surprised that you do other things too. I am also guilty of that. I remember seeing John Tesh playing the piano proficiently on TV a long time ago and I thought, “wait a second, isn’t this guy a TV host, how can he play the piano?” …which is strange because I have played the piano all my life as well.

I have since learned to imagine that everyone I meet does at least 7 things well and I always try to dig deeper upon a first meeting; especially to women. I don’t think we should ask each other, “What do you do?” It’s too harsh. I think we should as each other, “So what are you doing at this time in your life?” it’s a lot less threatening.

I think women sometimes feel if they can’t say doctor or lawyer, they are afraid to be proud of raising their kids, being a homeroom mom, running the holiday charity, teaching ceramics after school once a week, and perhaps directing a children’s choir. Or, they sometimes feel guilty of working full time and not being a homeroom mom or girl scout leader cause their at work til 5. But if you did deeper, these moms pack their weekends, no matter how exhausted they are, with their kid’s stuff.

Every year just before Thanksgiving, I think, “am I still going to direct the Christmas Choir at our church for the children’s Christmas Eve mass?”; even though the kids are K-8 and my youngest child is a sophomore in high school now. Shouldn’t I pass the baton to someone who has a child in the school?

"Also, am I still going to enlist my own children, some in college now, to play the piano and guitar to accompany the choir and listen to them say, “Mom, we have been out of that school for years! Why are we still doing this?”

But, today I had my first practice with the kids. I walked into the church and saw 50 book bags strewn behind the back pews and heard the commotion up in the choir loft. I suddenly felt great! I carried the obligatory bag of candy to disperse upon arrival and bag of song sheets upstairs and was greeted by the most beautiful glowing faces, “MRS SWAIN!”

I made them all stand up to see how much they had grown in a year, gave them the rules about candy wrappers, made them tell me what they wanted from Santa and started them off with the breathing game which the veterans know and the new kids get a kick out of.

I think we performed about 7 traditions in the first 10 minutes and I thought to myself, “no wonder I do this every year!” It’s awesome! Especially, when the choir remembered the harmony to “The First Noel” on our first try in a year. It was wonderfully emotional! I get to be with 50 angels every Wednesday for an hour until Christmas. How lucky am I?

So, what I’m doing at this time in my life, apart from the other bazilian other things we do, is choir directing.


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