A voice...

I cannot stop watching a performance by one of my best friends'. Erin sang this past Friday in the UCSC Gospel Choir Winter Concert. I have always known Erin to have a beautiful voice. When we first met she was constantly humming around my apartment, singing Broadway tunes as we walked downtown, and carrying a beautiful melody which would often fly away with the wind to wrap itself around people across the street who would turn their heads in the hopes of finding the source of the beautiful tune.

When you're near Erin the air around you seems lighter. At any moment you expect bluebirds, squirrels, deers, and other woodland creatures to prance around her and start cleaning your house. Knowing Erin she would be happy if they did. An animal lover to the core you can hardly restrain her when a creature of any kind catches her line of vision. A walk around the neighborhood can be interrupted up to 10 times by "KITTY!!" or "LOOK! A SQUIRREL! I WANT IT!".

Erin is a ray of light. Really, I can't think of a better way to describe her. She just lights up a room. Her beautiful smile, big beautifully round eyes, fair skin, and devilishly divine figure reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe just makes you want to hug her. Her brown pixie cut hair, her large dangling earrings, and her love for my dark red scarf are some of the things I find irresistible about her. She is always caring. Never for a second think that Erin doesn't care.

Her intellect and firm grasp on everything about anthropology has led us to many a night in which we discuss -among other things- gender roles in India, ceramics and the origins of pottery, different groups of ethnic bone classifications, and her oh so powerful fear of monkeys that she developed after she began studying anthropology, which is matched by my fear of birds. Erin and I have had many a girl's night where we cling to bread, cheese, salami, olives, and Tuaca. She has been my lifeline in times of struggle, and sometimes it feels as if we have the same brain.

Erin is the reason people began using the word beautiful. When you are around someone that is so graceful, funny, intelligent, and most of all a real human being how can you not use such a word. Now I see why humans invented such a word.

Alas, I am digressing from what I really wanted to discuss. Her voice. Like I said I had heard Erin's voice from the moment I met her. A hum here, a hum there, and I couldn't resist the longing to hear more. Once she joined the Gospel Choir with me in my senior year I finally got a chance. She landed a solo, and sang the last song of the concert. An upbeat striking song about how we need to literally stomp our demons away. It was amazing seeing the audience go from a state of skepticism with the announcement of the next soloist, to a state of worship. People literally jumped out of their seats. The choir director continued the song well past its ending just so Erin could keep going. Erin however, didn't realize that in gospel music improvisation is key when the energy skyrockets in the room, and thinking that the song was over tried to put the microphone back, and humbly go back to her place with the sopranos. That is what I love about Erin. She is so humble. She knows she can sing, but she never gets cocky about it. She never lets it get to her head.

With the solo on Friday I was so excited to hear her sing, and to see the reaction of the audience. I don't know how to describe it, she definitely made me cry, and sometimes people may not feel it, but during her song, God was in that room. What stood out for me was her connection with the song. The song is about almost giving up. Being in a place where you almost let your life slip from your fingers, but you find something within yourself to pull it back. You gain the strength to finally pull your life back together. Her connection with that song is something you cannot mistake in her performance. God has given Erin an amazing gift, and when she uses it, people don't even know what to do with it. They just stand there and scream, applaud, cry, and feel compelled to come up to her with their embrace and words of amazement. How incredible is that? To have something so powerful within you that people feel the need to come up to you, and tell you how they made you feel.

One of my favorite stories of the concert though, is a moment that Erin's fiance Tim experienced. Tim was sitting near the band by himself because I stupidly forgot to save him a seat. Somehow I think that is better so he could enjoy her alone. Witness the beauty he is around daily. One of my favorite things is to watch him watch her, because in that moment you can see just how much he loves her. In that moment he can't hide or fight nor would he want to restrain just how much he loves this beautiful woman.

Well Tim was sitting to the left of the stage, and when Erin walked out before her solo, he heard an elderly gentleman behind him whisper to his wife, "You see that one? That's the one I've been waiting for." What an incredibly beautiful moment. This gentleman that Tim said had to have been around 80 must have attended our concert last year, and came back to see Erin. He was waiting for her the entire time. He knew she would be there, and this time he brought his wife to see her! What an amazing gift. What a touching moment. Erin you have touched a life! Someone came and waited throughout the entire show in anticipation just to see you. This man knew you would have a solo because of your gift, and came back because you brought beauty into his life. Never let that go. Never deny that you are a beautiful talented human being that has a purpose in this world. Thank you for sharing your gift with the world.

Here's her solo: