My Tender-hearted Child, Part 2

With our church meetings now from 1:00 to 4:00, we are able to watch the Mormon Tabernacle Choir broadcast every Sunday morning. Ryan usually watches with me, depending on his familiarity with the musical selections. We also have two members of our ward in the choir and orchestra, so he always enjoys watching for them. I had received a “Choir Notes” e-mail this week outlining the program for today, saying that it would be a tribute to President Hinckley, with some of his favorite songs. I told Ryan that, thinking that he would surely want to watch it with me. Instead, he grabbed a nearby coin and said, “Heads, I won’t watch it with you. Tails, I will watch it with you,” and flipped his coin. When it landed as tails, he said, “Oh, good. I get to watch it with you.” (I’m still not really sure why he went through the big formal procedure if that was what he wanted.)

I have a confession to make. Ryan always wants me to sing along with the choir. I realize that is something that may be really annoying to some people. Ryan wants me to do it, so I do. The very first hymn was one of my favorites, “How Firm a Foundation.” The greatest part was that they also sang one of my favorite verses, one that we don’t normally hear or sing.

The entire program was beautiful, both the music and the messages by Lloyd Newell. As they came to the end of the program, they sang “God Be with You” as the closing hymn. Now, most of you know that this is the song that ends every choir broadcast. We also sing it often in church. I guess Ryan had never paid attention to the words before. As the choir sang, “’til we meet at Jesus’ feet,” Ryan looked at me with tears welling in his eyes. He said, “Mom, does that mean when we see President Hinckley again in Heaven with Jesus?” I nodded. (Seeing him put things together in his mind, especially those that make him a little teary, always makes me a little teary.) He went down the hall for more tissues, this time for dabbing our eyes instead of waving.