Happy start to the week, everyone! A few days ago, I had a very special musical experience: I finally got to see the new group my mom formed to sing at our church in Maracay. In the video I'm sharing above, you can hear the song "Hoy Quisiera Llorar" (Today I Wish I Could Cry), a communion song, which I recorded so they can use it as a keepsake and share it with their friends. It was rewarding for me to help them with the cameras and guitar on some songs, and I didn't have to sing at all, since it's an all-female project.
What I loved most is that my mom has been planning to return to singing at church for many months, a service she put aside after my dad passed away. He was the musical leader of our family singing, and well, you know I live in another city, and I've always felt like I left my mom alone during such a difficult time as mourning. Of course, my brother lives with her, but their relationship with music is also different. He found this pair of ladies with beautiful voices and finally started a new group that sounds great.
They haven't performed much, but their years of experience making music in the church make everything flow smoothly. That day I didn't have much to do, just adjust the audio, the camera, and a couple of chords I could play on the guitar, and that was only because I had a few days off. But the three of them easily manage their musical project; I only helped out of courtesy. The three of them were happy singing and accompanying the Mass, and they're actually located in the best spot for singing, at the back and above the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, located in San Jacinto, Aragua State, Venezuela.
In this place, we've had some of our best family performances, not only singing for Mass, but also private concerts, Christmas carols, weddings, baptisms, and even choral singing, since our service to the church has always been musical. Once Dad passed away, everything changed without us even realizing it. We've been rebuilding our lives and learning to live without him, and as we always say, God's timing is perfect, and little by little, everything is falling into place. I've always been proud of my parents, and I feel that artistically I don't even come close to them, since they are such great teachers.
I hope you all enjoyed the video, and that it serves as a reminder that after the storm, the calm always comes. The death of such an important family member shakes our world completely; for us, it's only been three years, but we're finally reaching some stability in our lives, even though the painful events of the past will always be there. Family is vital for our support, as are other practices and activities that help us distance ourselves from negative feelings. In our case, we have the joy of being musicians and using it to our advantage while also giving back to God, who gave us music.
