A Bubble of memory.

Every now and then a little snippet of memory will bubble up seemingly out of nowhere, and tantalize me with a glimpse of the past. This morning I watched as a red leaf drifted down from a tree in my back yard, and the song "Red Sails in the Sunset" popped into my mind. I remembered where I was when I first heard it, and most of the lyrics were still intact in my memory. The entire scene was crystal clear as though it was yesterday. I remember i was a Freshman in high school, sitting in assembly with the rest of the students, and we were all singing in unison, something we did once a week in the last period of the day. I suppose it was a ruse to keep the restless students quiescent for the last period, but I remember being acutely embarrassed because I didn't know the song. I pretended to sing along and by the time we had reached the last stanza I was able to join in. I had never been encouraged to sing because my voice was deemed to be too shrill, but I was soon given a spot in the glee club, so I couldn't have been too bad. I sang in the glee club for the entire four years I went to school there and must say, I enjoyed it. "Red Sails in the Sunset" was my introduction to yet another new experience.
It is unfortunate that children accept and incorporate whatever is said of them by adults, whether the remark is justified or not. Later in life I joined a singing group and actually sang a solo in a production, wondering all of the time if my voice was too shrill. Now I can't get "Red Sails in the Sunset" out of my mind. I guess I'll have to sing it again.