The Neu Family and music go together like peanutbutter and jelly, hamburgers and fries, movies and popcorn, and chips and salsa.. Maybe I can think of a more sophisticated example that doesn't involve food. Let's try music and the Neus are like Romeo and Juliet, but that ended tragically, so I better keep thinking. How about Bob Hope and Bing Crosby or Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers? In the 1980's pop song it was ebony and ivory, which does fit with our musical analogy. In any case, it seems that somehow when one of the Neu Family pops up in conversation, there's a high probability that music is involved.
| It's hard to describe fully our relationship with music. Today I was thinking about how we gain much happiness and satisfaction out of music and participating in musical groups. When asked about how Laurent likes the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, he usually responds, "I pinch myself every time I'm up there." He has thoroughly enjoyed participating in this marvelous choir and is looking forward to General Conference this weekend. (I know that many family members and friends will be playing "Where's Laurent?" during the choir numbers, and our son in Mexico will be joyfully anticipating catching a glimpse of his father on the screen.) Truly, happiness is indeed singing in a choir for him. We're also grateful, that with his aphasia, music is a means of communicating when words fail him. He may search for words and feel inadequate while speaking, but when he opens his mouth to sing, all constraints and restrictions are released as he sings with incredible freedom and passion. | I also find great happiness in music, though mine is more instrumental. I can contentedly sit at the piano accompanying my husband while he sings, or playing for the Riverton Jazz Band as we serenade the senior citizens with tunes from the golden age of the forties. Tickling the ivories tickles my fancy, and I'm grateful to my parents and grandparents who provided me with the opportunity to take piano lessons as a young child. I can't quite imagine my life without a piano nearby.; it would have been completely different. I believe my children's lives would also not have been the same. Chris sung in choirs, played in the jazz band, and has loved ballroom dancing to music. Emilie grew up soaking in the musical gifts of both parents and grandparents, and has demonstrated a true passion for both piano and voice. Laurent and I could sit and listen to her play any time of day and feel the peace and happiness seep into our souls as if the very sound waves themselves could vibrate into our hearts and spirits. In our family, music truly does bring us joy and helps to turn a "surviving" day into a "thriving" one. |
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