This topic deserves many a post.
It comes as no surprise that Dad has imbued all of his children with the gift and love of music. Some of my earliest memories revolve around Dad holding me on his lap singing me a song, singing at my bedside before I drifted off to sleep, or singing hymns next to me in church. In fact, for a long time, I thought dad didn't know how to sing because he never sang the melody...I later found out he was singing tenor.
Dad's musical abilities also emerged in the form of early-morning scripture reading. He would accompany our family to hymns that—even after 25 years of playing the piano—are still difficult for me to play, including In our Lovely Deseret, The Light Divine, and Scatter Sunshine (this despite the relative lack of sunshine spreading at 6:00 a.m.).
I'm so grateful to dad for his love of music and for sharing his gift with us throughout all of these years. From encouraging us join the "Carols of Christmas" choir during the Holidays to having our family sing together in the Sacred Grove during our epic Church History vacation, I have been richly blessed by music in my own life and hope that I can bring the same spirit and testimony of music with my own family.
It was so sweet hearing your Song of Joy, John and Sisi. What beautiful voices you have! Neil inherited his love of music from his parents, especially his mother. The difference is that they didn't always sing on tune, and he did. Nanny had her heart set on one of her children being able to play the piano well (and Genie and I were big disappointments in this area) so she told Neil that as long as he would play the piano after dinner, or lunch, he didn't have to help with the dishes. He became really GOOD at playing the piano, and he had to marry Ruth Ann before he became really good at doing dishes!!
ReplyDeleteJohnny, this was really sweet. I was just thinking about a post along these lines (maybe I'll save it for later). I unfortunately didn't inherit the good singing voice, but I did get the love of music and I know lots of hymns by heart!
ReplyDeleteI was going to do a post about this too, but as they say, "the early bro gets the worm." Or is it "the eldest bro eats the worm?" I can never keep it straight.
ReplyDeleteMy kids loved singing songs at night on the guitar when we came out John. Hope you're planning on bringing it to our house for your sleepover while you're out here.
Did we sing "Praise to the Man" in the sacred grove? That was a great trip. Dad thanks for sharing your love of music. We sang "I Love to See the Temple" yesterday morning as we drove toward the St. George Temple. Even Livs chimed in for a bit. It's so sweet hearing those children sing. Thanks for this post Johnny.
Loved watching this video. I also love hearing my kids sing primary songs. I am so grateful for the legacy of music. I love that I always get weird looks when I say I don't need a hymnal for some of the more obscure hymns.
ReplyDeleteat Joe- I remember singing "Joseph Smith's First Prayer" But we maybe we also sang "Praise to the Man" as well.