Friday, April 21, 2017

Five Minutes of Sing

Linking today with Five Minute Friday hosted by Kate Motaung. Kate posts a one word prompt on her blog, then we write for five solid minutes, no editing, no filtering, no over thinking. Add your link, then leave a comment for the bloggers beside you on the list. Why not give it a try?

Truth-I've got most of that down pat except the over thinking-ha!

Today's prompt-Sing

Hubs out of town co-worker spent the night here recently, and we started talking about summer vacations. He and his wife have two daughters just a few years younger than ours, and he asked me how I knew when a vacation was the last vacation we'd have as a family of four.  

I told him I didn't. That these changes occur quietly and mostly without fanfare in real time, and it's only in hindsight we register a particular season of family life has come to a close. I thought about when it was we'd taken our last real vacation as a family of four, and was suprised to realize five years have passed. I don't remember marking it as such, but as we watched the sun sink into the ocean that day, one chapter was ending and a new one being written.

When I read today's word prompt this is where my mind traveled. I hear the word sing and realize it's one more thing that was there and now it's not. I didn't note it at the time, but I note it now.

I think of my Daughter2 and the lovely sweetness of her singing voice. She sang in choirs and school programs and even a talent show in high school, but what I remember is the small mighty lover of life, a wee one lying in her great big bed, singing herself to sleep.

I remember the long legged teenager going in to our computer room after dinner and singing to her heart's content. The Phantom of the Opera was one of her favorites and the door would be ajar. Hubs and I might be talking in the family room beside the office and we'd have to say, 'close the door, we can't hear ourselves talk.' And then we'd smile because how could you not?

I remember the exhausted college student coming home for breaks, heading straight for her piano. How she'd play and sing and leave all the stress of a semester right there in the sunroom. I would bring my cup of tea and sit on the sofa to listen, but also to marvel at the notion of a full grown adult child in my house and heart.

It occurred to me recently that in this season of an empty nest the voices of my children are what I miss the most. Like the last vacation, the last first day of school, the last lunch packed, a daughter singing while I make dinner was something that happened until it didn't.

My husband mentioned it recently, how he missed hearing her sing, our soundtrack to the everyday business of growing up girls, so I asked my daughter if she still sings. She reminded me she sings with her church worship team, but I meant, 'Do you ever take your music into the bathroom while you're getting ready and sing to yourself there?'

She said, 'Oh yes, I still love to sing'.

And just like that my heart felt lighter.

14 comments:

  1. Beautiful words that brightened my Friday! My 13 year old son still likes to hold my hand when we're walking, and I wonder all the time which time will be the last for that. Have a wonderful weekend.

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  2. Precious! I grew up with music in the home thanks to my dad, had a voice scholarship to LSU, then married a church musician, so music and singing especially has been our life. Now, I can no longer sing and of course the kids are long gone, so I miss that so much. However, my littlest grand will be our singer. Thank you Lord! So enjoyed your Five Minutes today, Joyce and thank Daughter2 for sharing her gift with others in ministry.

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  3. Ahhhh Jo. I loved this post. As I mentioned in my post, I just experienced a "last" with our youngest. The last one in elementary school. Attending the final concert of his elementary school chapter. So crazy to me that next year one will be in junior high and the other in high school. Those "lasts" do come quietly.

    I love hearing about how your daughter loves to sing. Singing is good for the soul.

    Have a beautiful weekend!

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  4. aahhh... yes those seasons go by and then we miss them. We are looking at this summer and marking that this might be the last year where we are all together. Our oldest will graduate from college next spring and our other 2 are in college now. We were commenting on how once you graduate from college summer breaks just don't seem to happen as much because careers and jobs don't all take summer breaks. I hope this summer won't be the last but for sure change is on the horizon and we try and live eyes wide open! Thanks for sharing! (Stopping by from FMF)

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  5. Sweet memories. My daughters didn't sing as much, but they loved to dance. They always had music playing and were always dancing. I'll have to ask them if they still do.

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  6. I know I have said it a bajillion times but I soo relate to you. I have done the same things soo much. Dwell back on days gone by and realize that things came to an end without my even realizing it sometime. HOW many years did I listen to the "noises" coming from our backyard? The sound of the diving board, the splashing of the water, the calling of Marco Polo, and the SINGING? Oh how they loved (as teenagers mainly) to turn the music up and sing at the top of their lungs in that backyard. And hubby and I telling them to quiet it down so we could thing, but smiling at the same time. Forgot all about that until I read this. Yep, the pages of our lives keep turning and changing but some things will be forever there. Thank God!

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  7. Ah heck...this actually made me cry, Joyce. Such a beautiful reflection.

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  8. Singing brings such joyous memories to mind - directing the school choir, my son and daughter's singing voices, my sister's too. Mine. I love to sing. Prince and his singing and his songs. Gone too soon, and after a year still missed greatly.

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  9. Beautifully written, as usual! I talked about my girls and singing, too but I went a different route. I tried for humor. It won't be up until tomorrow because I'm still tired from Wednesday and that sweet baby was here a full 8 hours today. I hear my bed. It's singing the goodnight song. Ha! Did you intend pun on the use of NOTE up there? I thought it was great. :)

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  10. SUCH beautiful words to describe what all of us empty nesters feel these days.
    Thanks for making me write my own words to my story!!

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  11. such beautiful memories! I'm so glad I stopped by to read this today. Thank you!

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  12. I have those moments too of what was there and isn't now. I'm glad to hear that she is still singing.

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  13. What a sweet, sweet post! Our daughter had a beautiful voice and until her last baby sang a lot. Her time is limited now but hopefully when he is a little older she can get back to what she dearly loves and is very good at. Happy new week!

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  14. Hey, I'm your FMF neighbor from last week! So sorry it's taken me this long to stop by but we were on vacation and I barely had enough time to post Friday. I love these beautiful words. They were timely too as I just posted a picture of my sweet kids saying good bye to my hubby this morning as he leaves for work, and thinking about how I need to pause more often to take it all in. Thank you for these precious reminders!

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