Published on January 11, 2015
At the start of the new year, our family lost a dear family friend. I can say I wasn’t as close with the family as we would’ve liked to be, but when we were all together for whatever gatherings, Tito Cesar was always happy and the life of the party. He was always so glad to see me and my sister and always ask how we were. He seemed to keep track of what we were doing, because he would bring it up whenever we would see him next. He was so full of life.
I was asked to sing Ave Maria for his funeral along with another friend. It would be my first time singing for a funeral. I had only been singing/cantoring for a year, but I’m still learning.
I was afraid about my nerves. I know I’m a very emotional person so I know singing and crying won’t be mixing well. I tried to think about the song itself and the technicality of it. I tried not to think about the meaning because just the thought would distract me and I would eventually break down.
Didn’t work.
Tito Cesar wasn’t that. He was a great father that raised four successful children. He was also the loving husband to Alice. I wanted to sing for him.
And I did.
I managed to hold it together until the very end. As I was walking back to my seat, all my emotions just came pouring out.
Rest in peace, Tito.
This weekend was also the start of a new beginning in my own church.
10:30am is the prime time mass to go to. This is also when the choir sings. Since I’ve been cantoring, I have not chosen this time slot because 1) too many people, and 2) not enough time to practice before mass because the choir needs to rehearse. It just so happened that the cantor scheduled for that mass needed a sub, I decided to step up.
It just so happened to be the mass our new pastor was to officiate. Talk about pressure.
I think I did okay. Everyone came up to me and told me so 🙂
My only issue was that I had to go for long periods of not drinking water. My throat would get dry. Not fun.
But I had the support of my fellow choir members and several members of the congregation.
At least now I got the 10:30am mass out of the way.
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