Music was very much a part of my childhood.
Mom often sang around the house.
Doris Day and Virginia Lee and Jim Reeves were her favorites.
Dad loved to dance.
My parents turned heads on any dance floor.
Ancient hymns became markers for me.
I knew if they sang “From sinking sands He lifted me” we had no money.
“What a friend we have in Jesus” meant someone somewhere was in trouble.
When they sang about the “Three little fishies that swam, swam, swam all over the dam” I knew they had enjoyed a good time at a party.
“Abide with me” and “Nearer My God to Thee” meant Dad was thinking about the war and his time in the water after HMS Dorsetshire went down and he had to take to the ocean and swim for his life.
There was a duet only my parents sang that I have never heard performed by anyone else.
“With the kind of love that you’ve been giving,”….
…. dad would sing, holding the last note until mom joined him with...
“I could reach the moon up in the sky.”
They’d perfected harmonies for the rest of the song:
“A little cooperation my dear,
a kiss or something whispered in my ear,
would help me banish the thought of fear, with a little cooperation my dear.”
I liked unison parts best:
“Without your love I couldn’t go on living, wondering how I’d get by.
But with the kind of love you’ve been giving,
I can reach the moon up in the sky.”
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