The Sunday after we arrived in Essex, Brandon, his sister Sara and her husband Brett, his sister Lindsay and her boyfriend Dustin, his cousin Cassie and cousin Amy, and I put on our Santa hats and headed over the the nursing home to light up the hearts of the residents and bring them some holiday cheer.
We didn't practice our carols, who needs practice? These are traditional Christmas songs that most of us have sung since childhood. We were prepared enough, with our optimism alone.
As we were walking into the nursing home another family was walking out. They asked if were were there to join the other "carolers"? What? What other carolers? You mean we were not the only ones to think of this idea? Well....my bubble had deflated....but only a little. I mean, how naive am I to think we were the only ones bringing joy to the hearts of these people? Naive......v.e.r.y. n.a.i.v.e.
As soon as we entered the facility we encountered these "other carolers". You would know them easily by their heavenly voices, organization, and synchronising. So...they are good. Really good. And are they an actual choir? Yes, they must be. But, we have Santa hats.....they did not. HA! Oh my gosh...are they harmonizing? This isn't their first road show....I mean...THEY ARE GOOD!
Hmmm....well...we have Santa hats.
If anyone had asked, I would have told them I am not much of a singer. In fact...I like to say I was kicked out of the children's choir at my church. This is not true, at least not to my knowledge...but I can NOT sing. At all. It's bad. And sad. When Brandon and I first started dating I told him he would probably NEVER hear me sing. Of course, that has changed, and he does hear me...but probably wishes otherwise.
So...needless to say, I was not planning on leading our choir. Cassie and Amy would not arrive for about 15 minutes, so the first few songs only included Brandon, Sara, Brett, Dustin, Lindsay, and I (mostly moving my mouth but with few words coming out). Initially we were not intimidated by the other carolers...we still had our optimism...and dignity. We set ourselves in the front sitting room and prepared to spread our holiday cheer. And here we goooo...
The first song was a Disaster. Please notice the capital "D". I know Brandon can sing, but apparently the mix of him and the family and OH MY GOSH...there goes our dignity. The awkward joining of all our voices and the deflated bubbles of optimism came together all at once to create sounds that resembled nothing anywhere close to lovely carols. Thankfully Brett had copies of all the carols we were to be singing, so we knew which words to sing, even if they were sung off key.
So many people were trying to put their wheelchairs in reverse and change directions to get away from us that collisions were happening all over the hallways. People were falling out of their wheelchairs, knocking eachother over, holding their ears and moving as quickly as they could in the opposite direction. Someone even tried to run through a glass window...just to find relief in other sounds or silence. Fine...none of that actually happened, but it could have....or maybe should have.
We were encouraged by the staff to relocate to an area that was less public and more private....we were led into a small activity room...located in a locked wing of the nursing home. FINE...that didn't actually happen either, but we did relocate, only because they were about to have their Sunday evening church...someone had to pray for us!
Thankfully after a few more awkward songs (at this point we were just going with the flow....we had nothing ELSE to loose) Cassie and Amy showed up and joined in our chorus. With their help, and lead vocals, we did not sound quite as lost. The best part was getting to see Grandma Bice. She knew almost every word to every song. And although she may not have thought we sounded very good, she seemed to enjoy the experience!
In the end...it was a lot of fun. And if nothing else a great laugh for all of the grandchildren. These memories will go right up there with Taylor's baptism and the church's version of "Silent Night" played by the stand in organist. And in the now famous words of that pastor "Let's try that one again!"
Grandma Bice with her grandchildren
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