Singing along...

Singing along...  One of the constants of my childhood was the family singing together, led by my mom.  We'd sing at all sorts of times and places, but most especially, we sang while in the car on a long trip.  My mom was always the one to initiate this, leading us with mainly folk songs, such as You Are My Sunshine, Clementine, or Go Tell Aunt Rhody.  Mom loved to sing herself, and often sang while she worked – but she really loved listening to her kids singing along with her.  We were mostly terrible singers (especially me!), only occasionally being able to hold a tune, but that didn't seem to matter to mom.

Dad seemed to enjoy listening to us, and would sing along himself during these family songfests.  But I cannot recall him ever initiating the singing when mom wasn't there.

I remember coming into the house one time when I was a teenager, probably in the late '60s.  Mom was alone in the house and unaware of my entry.  I heard her in our living room singing an old country & western song I didn't know (and still don't), singing along to a record playing low.  When I walked into the living room, I saw that tears were streaming down her face, and that she was sobbing while she sang.  When she saw me she stopped, and seeing my reaction (I was shocked) explained that the song she was listening to was her dad's favorite.  She had been extraordinarily close to her dad, and he had passed away a few years before then.

Someone could have done nearly the same thing with me a few minutes ago.  I was listening to a YouTube video of “You Are My Sunshine”, and it brought back instant memories of mom...