Singing with Miriam

My family laugh at the gusto with which I sing ‘In the bleak mid-winter’ at Christmas. Not at Church, in the kitchen.

I used to sing in the school choir, although with less gusto, and over the last couple of years I have been talking to my friend Tracey about starting singing again.

In the summer I went to the local Heatons’ Festival and watched the enthusiastic singing of a group called ‘Do your own thing’. I found their website and asked if I could join. The rehearsals are every Wednesday, but somehow I never quite made it.

In August I started to facilitate Miriam’s circle. When Gill did her person-centred review, it became clear that Miriam wanted to sing again (A circle of 3 – Miriam’s story)

At her last circle meeting we talked about either joining ‘Do your own thing’ or Stockport Community Choir. Miriam and I are new members of Stockport Community Choir, that meets at 3.15 each Sunday.

I picked Miriam up from Bruce Lodge, and ten minutes later we were stood outside where the choir rehearse. We were introduced to Frances and Hannah who were also early. I introduced Miriam as someone who used to sing in the Maia choir and who led her guide troop in camp fire singing and who wants to sing again. There were about twenty people at the rehearsal, and we sat with the sopranos, with our song sheets and kept up quite well. We sang, ‘Let it Be’, ‘Down by the Riverside’ and at the end ‘The Rhythm of Life’.

Miriam said, “I thoroughly enjoyed it, I love to sing”.

And I did too. I probably would never have made the effort to join Do your own thing, but because I went with Miriam, this gave me the extra push to make it happen.

Miriam got me singing again.