Sunday, October 21, 2012

"We are the World"

In any long pilgrimage, there are moments of monotony, where walking day-in, day-out, putting one foot in front of the other, takes on a certain routine.

To pass the time, Alberto and I often resorted to singing... not together, since neither spoke (or sang!) in the other's language. The oddest songs would pop into my mind. "Amazing Grace", most of whose lyrics I don't know, but whose tune kept playing over and over in my mind. "I'm all out of Love" by Air Supply (yeah, I can't figure that one out either!). And of course, when it was raining - "Singing in the Rain".  

Occasionally, I would hear Alberto singing songs in Spanish to tunes I recognized, like Simon & Garfunkel's "Sound of Silence" or "The Little Drummer Boy" sung in Spanish.

One day, he started to sing the lyrics to "We are the World", by USA for Africa. I don't know why, but it really grated on my nerves. I couldn't stand hearing it; and the more I asked him to sing it in his head, the louder he got. So I decided to retaliate with the only song that came into my head at that time - Kylie Minogue's "Can't Get You out of my Head".

So whenever he started on his lyrics, I would respond with "la la la, la la la la la..."

Over the years, "We are the Children" has taken on a special meaning in our lives. Whenever we hear it, it brings a smile to our faces and a whole host of memories from our walk.

Last week, Sylvana brought home the song that her school choir is preparing for the upcoming assembly: "We are the Children". She asked to hear the song so she could practise along. We put it on, and as she sang, the words on her lips seemed to emerge from her very heart. I couldn't stop the tears, and as I looked over at Alberto, saw that he too had tears in his eyes.

We joined in her song, the words taking on a whole new meaning for me and sounding more beautiful than ever.






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