One Song, One Thousand Memories- BFF 248

     Everyone has that one song that when they hear it produces an avalanche of poignant memories from the past.  Since this prompt was posted I have racked my brains for the one song that produced that reaction in me.  After much analyzing, I have finally chosen one.  With Christmas only a little over a week away it seems only fitting that I choose “Silent Night”.

       “Silent Night” was one of the first carols that I learned growing up.  Sure I loved “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” and “Frosty the Snowman” but it wasn’t till much later that I got the words memorized.  From grade school through my early twenties I was involved singing in a choir.  There was never a Christmas season that went by that singing “Silent Night” wasn’t on the agenda.  It was the song that the choir would file into auditoriums singing in the darkness while holding a single candle.  It was always so cool!!  Over the years my voice went from a first soprano to an alto and because my voice lowered in register as I aged I got to learn virtually all the female singing parts of this particular song.

 

       When my babies were born I always would rock them to sleep singing this song.  It was a song I can easily sing.  It seemed as appropriate as “Rock a Bye Baby” to use as a lullaby and I always did.  I would snuggle my precious bundle close and sing the melody of every single verse.

   

     It remains to this day to be the one song I don’t need sheet music to play on the piano.  I remember exactly how to play it and can play most of it from memory.  I would spend hours at my piano (when I had one), playing Christmas carols during the holiday season always beginning with “Silent Night” and finishing with “Silent Night”.  It is a song that brings me peace.  The year my Grandma died two days before Christmas, it was the song that would bring tears as it continued to soothe. 

         Just yesterday I was thrilled to hear my daughter play “Silent Night” perfectly on her acoustic guitar.  I found a free website online that had free tabs for just about every Christmas carol you could imagine.  Inspired she huddled over my laptop and played each and every one that caught her fancy until her fingertips hurt.  Then she copied down the tabs carefully to add to her growing library of songs she can effortlessly play.  As my life continues I am sure that the strains of “Silent Night” will continue to mark it and intertwine with my memories until next time when I give you another glimpse into the life of a trucker’s wife.