I am lucky to be a part of an extended family where singing is in the heart of each of us. I grew up in a singing home. My mother sang to me at night with her guitar; she sang in the car, while we hiked, and while we cooked. She was always singing. Granny, my beautiful grandmother, sang at her piano, and with her grandchildren on her lap. Uncles, aunts, and cousins gathered and still gather to play guitar and sing. As a child, I never thought much of what this meant or how singing would become the center of my being. But reaching my fiftieth year I deeply reflect and realize that singing is my soul. It is how I connect to myself and connect to others.
I always knew I wanted to be a teacher and work with children. I started babysitting at 12 and got my first job at 15 at Hester’s Day Care. I worked afterschool every day and from Wesley Hester I learned fingerplays, rhymes, singing games, and simple songs to sing with children. He always laughed when he sang and played with the children. I learned from him the importance of singing daily with the children. Throughout my teens and early twenties, I played guitar and sang with friends, family, and children in day cares and preschools, summer camps and afterschool programs.
