One of my Facebook friends lost her mother to cancer on the day after Christmas this year. She posted today about how she keeps listening to her voicemail messages so she can just hear her Mom's voice one more time. I know how she feels. When my brother passed away last year, I would continue to call his house, just to hear his recorded greeting. It somehow made me feel he was still there. I was disappointed when I called the last time and it was no longer there.
A voice is a powerful thing. It can inflect love and compassion or it can evoke fear and frustration. It can even be flat and monotone barely conveying any emotion at all. A parent's voice can calm a crying baby or it can scold a wayward child. It can be uplifting with praise, or show the bitterness of disappointment.
Your first declaration of love coming from the voice of a girlfriend or boyfriend has the power to send tingles down your spine. Come on, admit it - you know it does. And isn't it sweet to be told, "I love you" in the sweet little voice of a child - whether it be your own or a grandchild?
What about that phone call from a long lost friend or relative? Voice recognition - I've got those calls and realized, "I would know that voice anywhere". And have you ever lost your voice to laryngitis? You don't realize how much you need to talk until you can't. My youngest daughter almost lost her voice permanently when her larynx was crushed in a car accident when she was in her teens. Thanks to a skilled physician who spent several hours delicately fusing together those tiny bones, you would never know it now. The real adversity was that she lost her beautiful singing voice, but the voice she acquired is the voice I know and love.
Voices from your past fade after a while, but just the slightest little thing can bring them back. I'm sure everyone has remnants of a long lost voice singing somewhere in their soul. I hope the voices in your head and in your past are as pleasant as mine.
A voice is a powerful thing. It can inflect love and compassion or it can evoke fear and frustration. It can even be flat and monotone barely conveying any emotion at all. A parent's voice can calm a crying baby or it can scold a wayward child. It can be uplifting with praise, or show the bitterness of disappointment.
Your first declaration of love coming from the voice of a girlfriend or boyfriend has the power to send tingles down your spine. Come on, admit it - you know it does. And isn't it sweet to be told, "I love you" in the sweet little voice of a child - whether it be your own or a grandchild?
What about that phone call from a long lost friend or relative? Voice recognition - I've got those calls and realized, "I would know that voice anywhere". And have you ever lost your voice to laryngitis? You don't realize how much you need to talk until you can't. My youngest daughter almost lost her voice permanently when her larynx was crushed in a car accident when she was in her teens. Thanks to a skilled physician who spent several hours delicately fusing together those tiny bones, you would never know it now. The real adversity was that she lost her beautiful singing voice, but the voice she acquired is the voice I know and love.
Voices from your past fade after a while, but just the slightest little thing can bring them back. I'm sure everyone has remnants of a long lost voice singing somewhere in their soul. I hope the voices in your head and in your past are as pleasant as mine.
Hi Glenda,
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post. I makes you think.
I hope you have a great evening and a wonderful Thursday. :)
Take care, Janet W
This post struck a chord with me because last year, the day after Christmas, my mom had the third in a series of strokes, and this one took her voice. It grieved me to know I'd never hear her voice again. Then a week later she died, on New Year's Day. What I would give to hear my mother's loud and cheerful voice.
ReplyDeleteOh Karen, I'm sorry. My own mom died several years ago, and it was just a few days after New Years. It's harder each year to remember the sound of her voice, but her words are always right there in my heart.
DeleteYep, voices are definitely a give away. On the other hand, my younger brother and I could fool my mother for the longest time when we'd call her on Mother's day. ;) I think we've changed enough now that she's wised up.
ReplyDeleteI know Mike, there's some voices that are just unique. Like my brother's - he was a tough old ex-marine and he had such a rough and gruff voice from years of smoking, but I was his baby sister - 19 years younger in fact, so he always used his big brother voice with me.
DeleteDearest Glenda,
ReplyDeleteI am relieved to hear that your beloved youngest daughter's was saved by the skilled doctor.
Yes, the voice has great power, doen't it!!! When my mother appears in my dream, I reminisce her voice as well. (I wish her to visit me in my dream more often, haha)
Love and Lots of Hugs to you, xoxo Miyako*
Miyako, I love having visits from my parents in my dreams also. They're always happy dreams. I'm glad to see you back in bloggerland! Hugs to you!
DeleteMy sisters and I still hear my Mom everytime we do something we KNOW she would disapprove of (and even in our 50s we still manage that)
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that your daughter's voice was recovered by that surgeon. It must have been such a worrying time for you. My dear mum has been gone for a long time now, and it grieves me that I can no longer remember her voice, however hard I might try. I still have photos obviously, but it is sad when you can't remember their voice. But I loved one of the comments that "her voice is still here in my heart", and that is certainly true. I still vividly remember all her little sayings and that is wonderful. Really good post today my friend.
ReplyDeleteThanks Diane,
DeleteI was thinking the other night how I can still remember other voices, but not my mom's or dad's. They've been gone for over 20 years so I guess voice memories do fade away. None of us had camcorders back in those days - I sure wish we had!
God bless your friend with peace and comfort.
ReplyDeleteAnd praise Him for the joy of your daughter. What a miracle.
It brought me relief to know I am not the only one that clings so much to voices. My mom has had 2 heart attacks now. After each one (and the 2nd one while I was carrying for my dad with stage 4 cancer) I find myself saving her voice mail messages that she leave me. It makes me smile so to hear her wish me a happy God bless you day and I get gripped with fear that it might be the last I hear.
I have a friend that when he mom passed a few years back, she had wanted to save the last voice mail her mom had left her. But she asked the phone company about it a couple of days too late and it had been erased from the main frame.
You know, I sometimes think about how all of our great technology has helped us but hindered us as well. It seems my grandmother could remember so many more details about people and dates than I can.
Have a blessed and wonderful day Glenda.
Jules, you're so right. Our parents and grandparents wrote everything down and kept things safely tucked away in cigar boxes. They recorded people's names and dates on the back of photos. I guess we do thing's the 21st century way of storing them digitally on the computer. I think having to remember all those dates and things made their minds sharper.
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