300 Voices

Last night I attended Parkland High School’s Winter Choral Concert. My daughter, Emma, was one of the fantastic altos! The concert was wonderful. There were, literally, 300 voices. As always, Parkland High School encourages its students to explore new things, challenge the expected, and flex their abilities.  The school may be a bit too class conscious, but it does put on a good show and the professionals appear to be very dedicated.

So, I was expecting the usual winter holiday concert, hearing things like Let It Snow, Baby It’s Cold Outside (okay, maybe not that!), and Silent Night. Only the last half hour of the two hour show was devoted to the typical Christmas fare. The first hour and a half was filled with songs I did not recognize. There were songs from many religions and many ethnicities, almost a United Nations of song.  At one point, the choral director unexpectedly walked off the stage and into the hall. I thought to myself that this guy really has to pee!  He walked back in with a group of a dozen students in tuxedos and gowns. They sang two beautiful songs. One of the songs was called My Companion. It was so beautiful that I want to try to find it on Spotify.

The concert was amazing! I’ve written before about how I get emotional when I see these high school students performing. It happened again last night. Three hundred students with lives to live. Such potential, yet we know that not all of their lives will be wonderful.  Which of them will divorce? Which of them will lose a child or a spouse?  Which ones won’t see thirty?  That sounded a little Debbie Downerish! I also thought about which ones will have successful careers and wonderful families and…will that animated redhead in the back row grow up to be president?

I guess what I am saying is all of these teens have lives to live that will be filled with good and some bad.  I wish I had the power to remove some obstacles to their potential good life.  I wish I could do something to take any pain away from these kids and have them always feel the way they felt last night…confident and optimistic and happy.

You know what else I wish? I wish I was seventeen.