Trish’s Blog

Sarah came home on Wednesday and announced that she got first chair in the bells (glockenspiels). Then Thursday she came home and said she got first chair in the drums, too. She’s in the 6th grade band in percussion with 10 other kids. She had to audition in order to get in, but at the time it sounded like it was really casual. I mean, there’s 10 of them… so how hard could it be to get in, right?

They each took turns playing the song on the bells. She said she had already memorized it and played it without making one mistake. Everyone else had made some kind of mistake. She rocked the glocks!! I’m not surprised that she did so well since she figured out the Harry Potter theme song when she first got them. It was nice to see her all hyped up and excited about drums and life in general because she won first chair.

Josh’s first love was the drums. Sarah is following in his footsteps. I was a little worried that he was pushing her too hard to follow, but she actually has some talent of her own. It’s fun to see them “talking drums” to each other now. Josh was looking at her music book with her (which looks to me like a bunch of ants in strict formation on the page) and sounding out with his voice how they would sound with sticks (just that little trick amazes me) and getting excited about what she was going to get into. They are kindred spirits in music.

I think they are amazing. I love it when we’re in the car and I’m singing my heart out and Sarah sings along with me and harmonizes. It seems so effortless for her. I would have to see the notes on the page and even then, whatever comes out is not my responsibility. I love it when Josh sings with me and harmonizes and ignores my mistakes. It’s fun to sing Beatles songs together especially and then try to guess which track follows before it actually starts. Those are fun times for me because they carry me and make me feel like I have some talent.

Thomas Chock and Kandon Kamae did that for me back when I was newly baptized into the Church in Hawaii. These two guys would sing Aloha O’e together at the end of church meetings if there was someone moving away or leaving the ward. It was so beautiful and emotions were already strung tight, that the song inevitably brought tears. It was always done at the conclusion of church with the person(s) standing at the front facing the congregation and when the singing was done, there would be a line of people giving lei’s and hugs to say goodbye.

And then the ward split and the “dynamic duo” would no longer be together at church meetings. I loved to hear them sing and didn’t want the tradition to end. So I told them that if they taught me the song, I would sing it with Kandon when Thomas was no longer there (he wasn’t a student, so couldn’t stay in the newly formed student branch). In retrospect, these guys could have easily found someone in the branch way more talented, but they agreed to teach me. And would you believe that I sang a duet and a trio (sometimes Josh would sing, too) in front of the branch on more than one occassion? We recorded it for a sweet missionary couple so that they could listen to it when they were done serving their mission. I even sang it by myself when Kandon and Josh were both absent one Sunday and someone was moving. I totally surprised myself. These experiences taught me that I was definitely getting help from on high. I never did sound as good as when I was singing hymns or Aloha O’e to someone at church. My talent is loving to sing despite my voice and getting help from angels when I won’t keep my mouth shut.

I’m glad that Sarah can follow in her daddy’s footsteps and find a creative outlet. I hope she sticks with it and finds a way to stay in that first chair. Not so that she can be on top of everyone else, but because she is doing something that she loves, well.

Posted on October 25th, 2008 by trish
Filed under: Haley Kids, Life