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Sunday 5 June 2011

Sing it from the heart...a memoir of an old lady

Can anyone give me that perfect explanation why some songs have the exact words to what is happening in our heart? A lullaby can make a baby sleep peacefully; a ballad about a broken hearted soul can make someone shed tears, what is the thing in a song that can turn our mood in a nick or time? Well, it happened to me too, one of the ways to cure my loneliness and the pain of missing my loved ones is through songs, I could feel my mama’s tender kiss and my papa’s tender hugs by listening to their favorite songs…

As I love to sing too, and one of the greatest memory of all is, since the very early time of my life, I surrounded by music! God had blessed me with the ability to sense and feel the music as something beautiful inside me! I guess that’s why there’s a soul in a song, a singer has in important job to deliver the soul of each words. A song writer has to blow the wind of life to each tune, and that’s exactly what happened one day. I was teaching my Broadcasting class, and I asked my students to have an imaginary screen in front of them, and try to picture what scene when they listen to a song that I played while I was reading my narration.

When I started the session, they were stunned, they were looking at me with a certain look in their eyes, sometime they smiled, and I stopped my narration when I realized none of them were writing! After I woke them up from their day dreaming, I continued the session, but still, the same thing happened in about 2 minutes after I started the narration again. But I let them be this time, and funny, I kind of enjoyed the way they look, I could see the innocence eyes full of excitement in their eyes.

And when I finished, they all smiled at me, sparks came out from their eyes, I smiled back at them, but when I asked them to collect their papers, they all shouted, “No miss, we saw the scene but we had no idea to write them in words!” I smiled at them and I asked them to try to do it again at home. And that morning, I made one of my student very happy, I made the narration based on her article project, after the class dismissed, she came to me with full astonishment and told me that she was so happy that I could adapted her idea into the narration.

And something amazing happened, I said,

“It’s just like singing a song dear, you can deliver the message as long as you sing it from the heart.”

She was stunned and smiled, nodded and once again, I saw a great spark came out from her eyes. After she walked away I just realized that I just said something that inspired her so much. I kind of having a moment alone after that, I sat in my room, alone; look at the Narration script again. Well, as I remembered, I opened my messages and read again one particular message that made me think about how people could say something strong enough to change our life’s vision, in a good way though.

And here I am, listening to some Christmas songs, alone, at 3.am. I sang this song once in a church in Melbourne, with a great a choir as my background. It was an honored moment, and I could capture the Holy moments in each words of the song. The only thing that was missing in that amazing moment was the smile of my papa and mama. After the mass finished, I joined the tea time, and a woman came to me, and said

“Love, I was like floating between the clouds when you came to the bridge part, the one when you sang ‘For the bible tells me so..’ with some ‘oh oh..’ right before the over tune. It was so…how may I say.., you delivered the beauty of God’s love, the words seem didn’t really matter,”

I nodded at her like a Japanese girl (I was working in a Japanese restaurant at that time, so I guess it had become a habit) and saying my gratitude for what she’d said, then I smiled, suddenly, she said again,

“And one more thing, love, you have the amazing smile with a tender way of looking at people, “

I smiled again, blinked a couple of times and we ended up talking about this and that, and a week after that lovely evening, I went to her house. She invited me for dinner, and she cooked an amazing Gnoochi, one of my favorite Italian dishes. She’s been living alone for about four years, her husband passed away by cancer, when she served the apple pie, she asked me to accompany her to sit on her back porch, the view is so beautiful there, and we ended up sitting there for almost four hours. When I realized that the time was pretty late already, I said good night and the next thing I remembered was sitting in the tram, feeling so blessed by the time that I’ve shared with the old lady.

Now, I’m telling this story without knowing the old lady’s name. A bit torturing, for I can’t recall my memory, I tried to remember what happened after that night, I was still living in Laverton at that time, I sang in Dandenong, well, as far as I could see, the distance of both places are amazingly far too. I just heard the song that I sang in that church, “Jesus loves me”, but still, I couldn’t remember what happened next?

It’s odd, for I always remembered the moment when I sang in that church, I remembered when that lady talked to me for the first time, and I remembered the dinner, but why couldn’t I remember what happened next? Did I come again to visit her? Did I ever bought some flower and gave them to her? Was I there when she needed me? Did I ever sit on the cute back porch again? Or…, did something so painful happened and made my heart erased everything about the particular event?

I folded my hands just now, said my grace to the Lord, and I also told Him about this special lady, suddenly I kind of looking at her smile in a glance. And now…, I’m smiling alone, ‘Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow’ followed by ‘sleigh ride’ is on, also, in a glance, I remembered the smiles that I’ve seen in my whole life, the smiles of my loved ones, the smile of papa when we played our kites, the smile of mama when I lifted her once from Becak to the Train, back then in Semarang city, during the flood. We were going to Jakarta for my medication; I lifted her on my back for almost 1000metres for I didn’t want her to walk through the flood. And to be honest, I would reverse that time and lifted her again, walk for another thousands of miles, not just meters, if I could see that smile again.

Memories are treasures, I learned to cherish all in a certain frame both in my mind and heart. And if you are alone at the moment, things aren’t seemed right and hurting, try to remember that you made someone smile. Smile and taste the sweet showering inside you, love your life and keep on moving forward, giving your best to the life itself, rejoice in everything and believe me, you’ll gain a new strength, nothing can tear you apart.

It’s almost Christmas, guys…

Feel the love and the warmth of the season in the air, and see the smile of your loved ones, where ever you are, and God as my witness, let me say this simple prayers of mine for all of you. May God blesses you with the ability to sense the love in every smile, every winks, every giggles and every simple things that you share with your loved ones as treasures for eternity…

Lisa Fransiska Sitompul

(is listening I’ll be home for Christmas by Michael Buble)

December 4th 2009 (a day before Santa’s Birthday)

PS: A memoir to an old lady, and to you papa and mama, I miss you both oh so much…

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