This is Not to Make My Sisters Laugh or My Mother to Say, "I'll Be Damned." But I Did Go to Church Yesterday Afternoon.

I needed to repent after trying to cut Glamis's toenails (in which the devil took over her soul and I failed). Actually, I wanted to pray for 2016 to turn around its series of ugliness. Not really. The truth is, my buddy Leo and his son, Kai, were singing in their church choir a series of songs in honor of Mary and the month of May.
I've heard Leo at karaoke and consider him a good Connecticut friend - he's been a mentor for me in my conversations about guiding Chitunga, and I love his spirituality, humor, and faith.

I have to say, too, that the music was truly stupendous. I knew it would be good, but I didn't expect it to be so celestial and harmonious. I said to Leo's wife, Bev, "This might be a world's record for how long I've been able to sit in a church without having to leave, feeling like I'm going to faint, and getting a severe case of the giggles. I did come close, however, when Bev wanted me to pose by Baby Jesus so she could send it to Pam (apparently, this wooden representation cracked her up).

St. Ann's in Milford was gorgeous and the acoustics were wonderful. One of the song's, Prodigal Son by Brian Flynn, was done especially beautiful and Bev leaned over to me to say, "I think this is the real reason you're here today...so you can hear this song. It's like you're the one singing."

She got me there. The last couple of years have totally turned my life around in a positive way and, truth be told, I'm glad the Great Whatever brought me to hear my friends sing on a rainy Sunday day. I was at home finishing a book chapter when I looked at the clock and said, "Crandall, you need to go hear Leo and Kai do what they do in church."

And I did. I am very thankful by the grace of the music and the overall harmony I felt from their collective voices. It will fuel me for the week.