The Final Concert

Whew, these posts have got me feeling all nostalgic! I almost missed it, too, in the rush of "finishing things." Sometimes checking commitments off my list needs to be second, and recognizing when something important is ending needs to be first. I almost missed it, but our choir director and my NGF caught it, and helped me look again.

So, as our family's participation in homeschool choir reaches completion . . . what has this unexpected activity provided for our kids while they were growing up? Well, first off, it gave the girls opportunities to audition and perform duets and solos--increasing their confidence and helping them recognize they can do hard things (that many people can't).

Not only did they give concerts (in a variety of locations) for their families and friends, but they sang for residents in nursing homes, fans at baseball games, history-lovers at a museum, and shoppers at a mall :) Community involvement and betterment is worthy of their time and talents!

Although I didn't get a pic of the four of them every choir semester, it's amazing how much these four grew in stature and confidence and friendship over the past eight years.

2016

2018 Spring

2018 Winter

2019

2021

2022

2023

Friendship with each other and with "the boyz" :) I couldn't ask for a better group of guys for our boys to grow up with! Choir helped form, maintain, and strengthen those friendships.

2016

(tan sweater is R, G$ looking at camera, Chase right behind him, Brennen red shirt)

2019

(Idk where Chase is, but R and Brennen are second row, G$ blonde in front)

2021 Spring

2021 Winter

(plus C)

2023

Uncle Chase and nephew R completed their senior choir year last weekend. Our boys don't plan to continue singing without their friends . . . plus have jobs and college classes and football coming up to demand their time. But we're thankful that they have all these shared memories (and loads more that I don't have pictures of) of choir to enjoy--and I find it hard to believe that they won't find some way to be musical together in the future :) Chase snakecharming at the wedding with his cello was mentioned as an entertainment option . . . but I hear his snakes escaped, so shucks, I guess that plan won't work! :)

So, I knew that this was their last choir concert together but didn't let that info go past my brain to my heart. Unexpectedly, on the last song of the evening, the main choir director invited any alumni who knew the farewell song to come re-join the choir. Gabby's friend Faith (who just arrived home from college that day) grabbed her arm and pulled her forward. Caelan, sitting next to me in the back, said, "I'll only go if Gabby goes . . . ope, there Gabby goes!" I don't know how to describe the emotion that hit me in that moment, with all four of my *kids* unexpectedly singing together, again. And then to throw in childhood friends! It was a blessing I didn't expect and a moment I didn't know I wanted, but I loved it! Absolutely loved it!

And here, I'm at the end of the concert, at the end of eight years of homeschool choir, and I haven't even started talking about the spring concert itself!

Brennen was scheduled for work during the concert (even though he asked for the day off), then got his schedule changed to before the concert (but that was when rehearsal was), so got it moved a third time to the morning. I ended up driving Graysen to practice at the concert venue, and decided to stay, so I got to hear the songs more than once :) They had a nearly nine-minute long selection from Phantom of the Opera, but I'll share video (if it's not too long) of the actual concert, because the boys' choir director added in the church's organ--and it was a very goosebump-raising combo! I had to smile when I found out they were also singing Bridge over Troubled Water . . . the song my high school class sang at our baccalaureate. I told Graysen their choir's version blew ours clean out of the troubled waters. Why the faculty at my school encouraged a bunch of non-musical, mostly athletes to sing--I'll never know, ha! Chase had a solo, R had a solo, and all the guys sang The Lion Sleeps Tonight which earned a raucous response from the crowd! Proud to Be an American was also in the line-up; that song gets me teary-eyed every time. So, such a special night! The (near) conclusion to a unique experience. I'm so thankful we didn't miss it ❤

The girls are on the far left for the finale, do you see them? The choir has certainly grown from when we first began :)

Two years ago, the spring choir concert was the place Chase and Gabby told each other they liked each other for the first time. For about a year, it became the only place they could see each other after that, but they were determined to keep in touch, hoping that moments like this would be part of their future story.

Football friends (one of which works for family) showed up at the choir concert making the small world of homeschooling seem even smaller :)

Good guys, good friends, good times! Videos to follow . . .