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I have no pictures for this...pictures aren't necessary for this story.

I've been busy lately, so so busy and I'm having a difficult time finding quiet so I can refresh my being. After a while, all that busyness begins to make me feel claustrophobic and to compensate, I look for tiny pockets of time in which I can relax for a few moments and feel myself again. Music has always had a powerful influence on my being and I use it often to help me relax. A few weeks ago I had an opportunity to spend some time on my friend's boat and as we're sitting there, chatting with other friends, the most heavenly, glorious music began to play and I nearly choked on my drink as I tried to ask him who was playing. Oh, my goodness! It was a boys choir, Libera, in fact. Have you heard them? You must. They are incredible. I was ready to go buy the cd in that instant, but my friend, bless his heart, handed me 2 cd's and said he knew I would love them. That has been my music of choice since then. I'm instantly calmed and sometimes, while I stand in the living room absorbing the energy, I just smile. As I was listening this morning I started thinking about your grandmother and how I loved to hear her sing, and then I realized that the tone of the boys voices reminded me so much of hers. It was the clear soprano and I was nearly in tears remembering the times I would sit on the piano bench next to her as she played and sang. Wonderful!

She left the piano behind when we moved to the Jenison house and none of you ever had the chance to experience her voice as I did while growing up. I wondered why she would leave it, the piano, how she could walk away from something that was clearly so precious to her. What made her give up such a beautiful gift and whom or what made her think so little of such a gift that she wouldn't impart the importance of it to her children. I found that so sad, that life would deny her the beauty of her music. She grew up with music, she was surrounded by music her whole life. Her parents and grandparents and great-grandparents, all of them filled her life with music and yet something, or someone must have happened to make it seem of so little importance to her. How sad...it makes me sad. I don't know, and I no longer have her voice to listen to, but I have Libera...and it reminds me of her. So I listen, and I cry, and I somehow feel refreshed.

So hold fast to your dreams, child of mine, and never let anyone or anything rob you of them. I love you. 媽媽