At first glance my husband Paul looks exactly like who he is.
A brilliant computer engineer who has worked for EDS, Sun, HP, and Entrado. A grandfather and the most loving father I know… he is perfection.
What you may not know about him is that he is also a song and dance man.
As a young adult I was quite clear in my need to marry a man who could carry a tune. The most fabulous singers in my life were mostly gay, so I was looking for a husband who loved music but lived in the middle between meat and potatos and brie. Someone who I could sit next to in church every Sunday without feeling like I was going to die because he sang so poorly.
My friend Shelly told us on Sunday that she always enjoys sitting in the pew in front of us because she loves to listen to us sing. I was half tempted to tell her that I always enjoyed sitting behind her family because they remind me so much if my own little demons in church tormenting each other in Sacrament meeting. It was a hoot watching her youngest in action. The child definitely won that sibling war of wills and it was pure entertainment.
The first time I slow danced with Paul he sang the lyrics to Somewhere Out There right in my ear and it defintely grabbed my attention.
When I realized he was also the consumate American sportsman, musician, intellectual, spiritual giant who also loved to watch Shakespeare plays, listen to (and play trombone) classic jazz, read Tolkien in Dutch, and SING…
Well, that was all it took. We also had a prenup around food. I was a vegetarian and did not want to cook meat and potatos every night. He agreed to eat my grains, beans, and rice and we have been so happy together.
When we lived in Utah he sang with a small choir that performed madrigals at the Utah Shakespeare Festival. They also performed at the St George Tabernacle and I captured on video him singing this song.
When Allison married her high school sweetheart I choreographed a mix of songs for Paul and Ally to share at the reception. We had so much fun rehearsing this together that it is my favorite memory of her wedding prep.
Paul has really struggled with his health this past year and I am so grateful we have been able to use music and dance as our most effective form of therapy.
Singing harmonics affect the frequencies of our bodies and the hours we have spent singing together healed so much that has been disabling.
My daughter Michelle recorded me singing Come Thou Fount back in August of 2008.
I sneezed right before she began taping and it gave her the giggles. During the song you can hear her trying to restrain her laugh as I sing.
I had a difficult time not busting up while singing and when it was finished we both burst out laughing.
Continue reading “Come Thou Fount”It is official!
Everyone moved out and for approximately three days we had an empty nest.
Then our oldest daughter moved into Benjamins room and we have a fully grown roommate instead of a teenager in our home!
Ben usually shows up on the weekends and it has been so joyful watching him mature into his new life working a factory job and rooming with five other guys.
All five of our children have asked that I not over share their lives on my blog and social media and so I will not post too much more family content in this space.
I did want to give a shoutout about hitting this milestone though because it has been wild to watch our baby grow up.
Here are a few tweets encapsulating a musical theatre class that Ben made possible for me to teach. He lugged all the equipment into the school every week and helped me break it down and repack it into the car.
He participated as my assistant director, choreographer, tech, and was my male model for the universal costume that was required for the class. I paid him forty bucks to model our base costume and $10.00 an hour for the assistance to the class.
He played Lizard in Frog and Toad Kids and was just my all around support. Paul had just been let go from HP and taught homeschool that year, but our Friday morning class was a joyful time to share together.
When he came over this afternoon he shared a few new songs that have dropped recently from his favorite artists and we listened together. Then I shared a couple songs with him. Music is how we have always connected and I will always he grateful for it.
