Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Hear Her Roar

If someone had told me a week ago that Jiejie would be standing atop an ottoman belting out a song from "The Lion King," I would have scoffed. But it's true. My shy one, who has always been able to carry a tune exceptionally well and always afraid to sing out, was so inspired by her after-school music class that she hummed a song in my ear Friday night. Then she found it on YouTube (that mixed blessing) and tried to copy the lyrics as she heard them on the music video, refusing to allow me to find them on the Internet for her. Ultimately, she asked me to help. When I showed her the lyrics, she picked up her battered hand-me-down laptop, holding it like a heavy hymnal, and began to sing with no accompaniment. She sang and sang. I introduced her. She sang again. I asked her where she wanted her audience to sit. She placed Meimei and me on a sofa and stood in at the far end of the family room. "Sing so the audience in the back row can hear you!"

She did.

And then she wanted a stage, so she climbed onto the ottoman and sang from her little heart, "Can you feel the love tonight?" "Love' came out as "wuv" almost. She sang to Meimei and me, she sang on the phone to Daddy working late. She hasn't
sung it again since that night, but I can't get that tune out of my head.

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