Momma sang what?

I love King's Strings concert during the Christmas season.  We take a break from our typical program and move to a more formal concert.  The venues are usually beautifully decorated. The atmosphere is festive, expectant, and often reflective.

Our theme this year is Emmanuel, God with us.  Jesse and Mariana/Andrew play a beautiful rendition of O Come O Come Emmanuel and Mariana sings both God Is With Us and Be Born in Me.  We talk about answering God's call as Mary did, "I am the Lord's servant.  May your word to me be fulfilled."  We remind our listeners that because Jesus came as a baby, because of His sacrifice for us, and because He lives in us, we can do whatever is asked of us.  Then we share our 2013 journey.  It's been a very meaningful Christmas season.

But I have to admit that there's another reason I enjoy our Christmas concerts and that's because we take a break from singing Daddy Sang Bass.  It's not that I have anything in particular against Johnny Cash or this song.  The dilemma for me is that everyone knows the song.  They know the words.  So when Daddy sings bass, they all look at me but instead of seeing Momma sing tenor, they see nothing 'cause Momma don't sing.  At all.  A bit confused, they wait for the second round and sure enough, that Momma up there don't move her lips at all.  By the next go-round they've figured out that Momma's a dud so oldest daughter takes over the role.

It's not that the fam didn't try to make me sing this phrase.  They did.  They brought out all the usual arguments, "Oh dearly loved mother, what makes you think you can't sing?  You have a beautiful voice and you just need to sing more."  Did I mention that my family members suffer from short-tern memory loss?  It hasn't been medically diagnosed but these same people who tried really hard to get me to sing in front of millions are also the ones who just days prior made comments like, "Uh, Mom, you, like, just  changed keys in the middle of that verse," or "Is that, like, really how the song goes?"

How can this be, you ask yourself, as I am Mennonite and all Mennonites sing?  Believe me, I have asked myself this same question.  My high school asked this same question and as I was found lacking, well, that explains my experience at said high school.  Can't sing?  Dud.  If it weren't for the fact that I look so much like my mother and get called by her name more often than my own when I return to my home area, I'd have had a DNA test to see if I had been switched at birth.  On the other hand, she claims she can't sing, either.  According to family legend it was my brother who ended her singing career by lauding her rendition of a Sunday School song with, "That's not how we sing it in Sunday School."  Must be some kind of generational curse or something.

So I have definitely been enjoying my sabbatical from the weird looks and forced smiles that come during our family's version of Daddy Sang Bass.  I've tried to suggest changing the words:  Daddy sang bass.  Ana sang tenor.  Poor little Momma can't join right in there. 'Cause singing seems to make her a troubled soul.  But they won't have it.  The Good Doctor is convinced that it's an audience favorite so it's here to stay.  I guess there's nothing I can do about it.  Except to live for the month of December every year.