The other evening when we were gathered at my sister's house, the subject turned to a certain cassette tape made by my mother. On it she had recorded some of the songs she had sung to us as children as well as melodies written long before we were born: "Over There", "Pennies from Heaven" and her favorite, "Beyond the Blue Horizon". We found the tape and listened to it on the way back to my parents' house, the car filling with the soft, sweet voice of Mother. I found myself singing along quietly as I remembered both hearing them and sharing them with my own children.
My favorite part is when Mom is singing "When You Wore a Tulip" and my dad begins humming in the background. He then chimes in with the melody while Mother harmonizes and their voices blend well as the tune is carried. At one point they get tickled and you can hear the laughter rising in their voices. It made me laugh along, a joy bubbling up inside of me at the thought of them sitting at the kitchen table, singing into a tape recorder and enjoying the moment.
Twenty-three years have passed since that tape was made; a typical day back in 1982 when I was a young woman in college, my whole life before me. I think about all the years that have passed, seemingly in the blink of an eye. Much has been gained, some has been lost. But I'm thankful that along with the sweet blessings of that fragile cassette tape, I can still hear first hand, the beauty of their song...
2 comments:
Wow, what a find, I have a box of cassette tapes my grnad father made as well. Only speaking though of our family history. Priceless moments of time captured. Thanks for sharing.
I know exactly what you mean. I have a cassette that was made from my grandparents' reel-to-reel. It is my two brothers and myself singing the alphabet song and it was recorded when we were 2, 3, & 5. Thanks for a great memory...
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