Noah attended the family service on Yom Kippur. It was crowded and a little warm, and people were edgy, hungry, and starting to smell just a little funky in that "I'm fasting, and furthermore I haven't brushed my teeth" kind of way.
We sat further toward the back of the sanctuary, near the door in case we needed to make a hasty retreat, and were quickly surrounded by friends. Noah ended up on my lap, which was fine because I expected he would be asleep soon.
The congregation rallied into song, and I was charmed to hear sound coming out of my boy, there in my lap. Then I realized he was getting the tune right.
And then I realized that he was getting the WORDS right.
And then I made the final and most fabulous realization:
He was singing in his Cookie Monster voice.
As the children's choir took the stage, I was awash in conflicting emotions. A combination of the bittersweet thought of Noah joining the choir, and anticipation of watching his little punim join the shining faces in the choir washed over me, battled hard by an overwhelming need to laugh at the growly little voice giving it his best from my lap. I restrained myself, but tears of love and overwhelming laughter coursed down my face.
My girlfriend, sitting next to me with her same-age daughter on her lap, turned to me with a look of concern. "Is there something I should know?" she asked. All I could do was shake my head and mutter something about having a Hallmark moment. And it was true. I just couldn't figure out how to explain that it was a Shoebox Greetings moment -- a tiny little division of Hallmark cards.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment