Singing the Night Away
Eddie, one of my childhood besties, gave me the best gift of all time last Christmas. I grew up with lots of music, singing, dancing and partying. It seemed to be the only thing people looked forward to in a neighborhood that was constantly chaotic during the week.
Every Friday night, my Dad would get his paycheck and we would host our weekly rendezvous with some of the neighbors. My Dad LOVED hosting parties. He was, and still is, a natural. At the time, he was feeding his creativity by doing side gigs, singing at restaurants and clubs. It is one of the most inspiring things that I love about my father.
As we got older, we moved and priorities changed. He had to focus his energy on doing what most people living in LA do - work to make ends meet. About 15 years ago, he found a local restaurant that hosted live karaoke. It didn’t take long before he became their most requested guest and premiere host.
Dad always fancied that my older sister and I would one day follow in his footsteps and perform in front of people. I remember being little-little and doing a song with him. It freaked me out when people clapped and I didn’t want to do it anymore.. After that, he’d occasionally call my sister and me onstage and make us perform random tunes. There was nothing we detested more. My Dad was an easy person to please. He’s never shied away from praise and telling us how proud he was of us. I don’t ever think I’ve expressed the same praise and pride to him, until he got Covid.
Over Christmas, my entire family, including my almost 90-yr-old Abuelita, got Coronavirus. Both my aunt and grandmother were hospitalized for weeks. Fortunately, they made it through and I know many families haven’t been so lucky.
My dad stayed home during his illness with COVID and we stayed connected by phone. As my dad struggled during our FaceTime chats, it broke my heart to know that he was miserable. The jovial and charismatic showman was fatigued, weak and colorless. The moment I showed him my Christmas present from Eddie and plugged in my microphone, he cracked a smile. I was so happy to see that. He asked me to sing him a song and I half-belted out one of his favorite romantic ballads, just to see him cringe at my tone deaf melody.
He laughed, and said he was proud of me and what a great job I did. I know I didn’t, but I knew in that moment, it didn’t matter if I couldn’t sing a song, or remembered the melody or lyrics. What mattered was that we exchanged a moment of joy doing something that I know he loves, and secretly I love it too.
In the last few weeks, if you listen to my podcast, you’ve heard me talk about the late karaoke nights we’ve been having. Torr and I created a little mock lounge in our living room. I got lights and a big monitor and we plugged into our home speakers. We made an agreement to not take ourselves too seriously and too just have a good time. Torry sings his old school jams like, “Girl, You’ll be a Woman Soon” by Neil Diamond and “Come Together” by the Beatles. I sing classics, like “Would” by Alice in Chains and the entire TOOL catalogue. It’s been pretty fun and pretty hilarious.
The last few weeks of doing this has really taught me the value of having fun and being grateful for the people closest to you. If I hadn’t had this time at home, I never would have been open to figuring out different ways to have fun or to enjoy my time.
I’ll use any excuse to unplug, and this is one of them. If you are looking for something fun to do maybe try singing one of your favorite songs? Sing like no one is watching. Sing like you’re making somebody proud.