Talents in our family...

It often strikes me that I wonder if you would have had a singing voice like your dad, and musical talent like your brother Peter.

Someone once asked me, "If you could have any talent or ability, what would it be?" Answer:

Anything. I wish I could sing. Just anything. Opera. Jazz. Folk songs. Lullabye. Anything. I wish I could open my mouth and hear something in tune and lovely flow out from my heart, from my mood, from my core.

I wish I could sing a classic like One For My Baby and have it sound swingin'. I wish I could sing a Weepies tune or Joan Osborne tune and sound like a GRRRL singer. Or how about a Cindy Lauper or Luscious Jackson tune. Or just to sing out when grief really hits me.

But nooooooooooooooooo. I'm flat. I'm tuneless. Hopeless. Not to mention scared and unable to just open my breath and let anything flow. It comes out all raspy, uptight, and griping.

Ah, well. I guess as long as your dad is willing to put up with my tuneless screeching in the shower, that's good enough and will have to serve my musical longings. But it still crosses my mind now and again, wondering what your singing voice would have been like, Kota. I miss you.