Posted in Special Days
We were blessed to be able to spend the weekend at my daughter and son-in-law's home. Chelle was the musical director of the children's Christmas pageant at her church for the first time. "A Traditional Christmas Pageant" was everything that a children's pageant should be---all the old favorite carols sung in sweet, lisping voices, little ones dressed in white with angel wings and halos, shepherds dressed in bathrobes, kings with glittering crowns, and Mary, Joseph, and the Baby.
My grandmother, mother, and Chelle all attended music conservatory, and although I broke the mold and became an elementary teacher, I took music lessons all through college. Grandma was a gifted pianist, and her piano students put on a holiday program as well as their annual recital. Mom taught vocal and instrumental music, and the programs she produced at the little rural schools around here were amazing. The sets and costuming took nearly all year to make, and the quality of performance she was able to get from the children would put some large community theater groups to shame.
After retiring from the public schools, Mom made herself available to the church and produced some beautiful Children's Christmas and Easter cantatas. I still can remember the look on her face when she did her last performance, as the children presented her with a huge armful of red roses to honor her for all her years of helping them with their programs. She was truly touched, and she took such pride in watching the videos of those programs, and listening to the tapes of them.
Tomorrow is Mom's birthday, and I know that she and grandma, as part of the Heavenly Choir now, were looking down with pride as Chelle directed her first Christmas program, and became the fourth generation of our family to direct a children's Christmas musical program, the first of what I am sure will be many, as it was for the rest of us. What a fitting birthday present this made for Mom, and how proud I know she must have been. I know I was proud!
But when did my little girl become a director instead of one of the little ones performing??? Wasn't it just yesterday that she was 12 years old, and playing the part of Mary, holding her infant brother BJ who was Baby Jesus, and sweetly singing him a lullaby as part of a cantata I directed? Where does the time go?
