September 23, 2009
2. Snappy comeback needed in response to the relative who, before hearing my voice, declared me incompetent to sing the O'Malley funeral Mass because I do not have an Irish surname. Has he considered that it might be a married name, or that I could be Irish on my mother's side, or that a spelling mistake was made at Ellis Island, or that Susan is really Siobhan? That's not the case, of course, but, this is the U.S.A. and those are valid possibilities. (Perhaps my friends who include, for example, Fergus, Berndt, Moore, Cowan & Keane can show me the secret "approved by the Irish" handshake! )
I don't usually sing for the deceased with anger in my breast, but this comment did get on my nerves. I had nothing to say in response to him at the time except that I was the singer who was hired and present and I would do my best. So, I threw myself into it with the goal of making the music so beautiful that Uncle Jack would cry. Which he did, during the sacred version of "Danny Boy".
3. Apology accepted, Uncle Jack. Hey, is that your phone ringing?
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