The Blue Sky in the Heart by Darlene Wu Anderson

Author:Darlene Wu Anderson [Anderson, Darlene Wu]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781490826110
Publisher: WestBowPress
Published: 2014-02-19T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

MEETING SOMEONE SPECIAL

The Taiwan International Women’s Club (TIWC) had been very involved with the School for the Deaf and Blind. The organization was well-known for its charity work in the community. Over the years the ladies of the club had provided resources to upgrade our school equipment and support special programs. One of their regular projects was to purchase music instruments for the school as well as to hire outside instructors to teach those students who wished to take private music lessons. Needless to say they played a very important role in maintaining a successful music program in our school.

When I was in ninth grade our music program was blooming. All the music students were doing well in their own area of studies. The school decided to put on a small concert for the ladies to show them our gratitude. It was also intended to show off what we had accomplished. The concert was nicely put together in my opinion. It included string ensembles, band selections, and chorus. However, the staff did not think that was enough entertainment for the women and wanted to drag me into the spotlight. They asked me to sing a couple of my art songs as a solo. I thought this was unnecessary. I really didn’t want to expose myself in front of an international audience. Although I had been singing in public I feared that those sophisticated women would not care to see someone like me on the stage. Beside that, I was already singing in the chorus. In chorus I could stand behind other students to make myself less visible. Performing alone there would be no way I could avoid being scrutinized from head to toe. Ms. Leu told me I had nothing to worry about and that my singing would only bring people joy. Reluctantly I agreed to do it. It was more important to do my duty for a good common cause.

The preparation for the concert intensified as the time drew near. Everybody wanted to impress the ladies. I was so nervous about my singing that I could hardly focus my thoughts on other things. My regular music teacher Mr. Wu was my accompanist. We had scheduled rehearsals but I felt the need to practice on my own a cappella. Every day I worked to improve my intonation, enunciation and expression on my songs. My foolish way of thinking was if I could sing well enough maybe the women would not notice so much of my awful appearance.

The concert went beautifully. We received showers of applause. The women were so pleased with our performances that their spokesperson gave a special thank you speech to the students after the program. They promised to do even more for us in the future. As it turned out they not only continued to support our school but also took on the huge project of helping me personally. More amazingly the lady who was the instigator of this new project remained to become a very dear person in my life.

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