Some gifts are just priceless

Yes, it is true. As you peruse the online sites or the countless catalogs that arrive in your mailbox, nothing really catches your eye. Well, my wish for this Christmas was a bit different. I wanted to sing a duet with a Metropolitan Opera Tenor. No, not one of "The Three Tenors" who are so notable. I had my eyes set on somebody specific.

Let me back up a bit. After I moved to Wisconsin, I soon discovered the Christian radio station WRVM (stands for Wisconsin's Radio Voice of the Master). Every Sunday evening at 8:30 (CT) there is a wonderful program called "Musical Memories." The host is a delightful woman named Martha Garvin. I would sing along with her, offering the harmony she could not do alone, even though I knew she could not hear me. I somehow felt that we "connected" on some level, so eventually I tracked down her phone number and called her. She was as warm "in person" as she is on the air. We had a lot in common. Her father was a minister in the Church of the Nazarene; my late husband was also. She plays the piano, and so do I, and loves the good old hymns of yesteryear. (I suspect that we both play by ear as much, if not more so.) Her husband went through some physical problems, and I was pleased when she asked for my advice about a couple of things, since I was the caregiver for my husband in his later years. And then we hit on another subject: her youngest son, Brad, was writing a book and he had no idea at all how to get it published and she wondered if I could give him some hints.

Well, that led to my contact with Brad. (That's him up at the top.) He sent me his book (a mystery centered around the opera scene in Chicago, which is where he got his musical start). It is a fantastic book. I loved it from page 1 all the way to the ending. So, when I referred him to my publisher, Star Publish LLC, they liked it as much as I did, and the rest, as they say, is history. It has just been released, and I highly recommend that you put it on your Christmas wish list. It is available on Amazon.com, bn.com, and many other places, or it can be ordered from your favorite local bookstore. There is also a link at http://starpublishllc.com where you can click through to order it.

But that brings me to my Christmas wish. You see, Brad is a singer at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. We have gotten pretty well acquainted, both through his mom and through his book, and we have joked about my singing with him and his mom when he makes an occasional guest appearance on her program. And it seems that I got my Christmas wish a little early. I just had a phone call from Brad, and together (on the phone) I got to sing a duet (Oh Come All Ye Faithful) with him!

If Ivan was still alive, he would probably laugh at me and tell me that I am "easy," something he often accused me of. To me, it wasn't all that easy. When is the last time you got to sing a duet with your favorite opera star?

O come let us adore him...o come let us adore him... If only I'd have had a way to record it! I guess you can't have everything. *sigh*

And in case any of you are interested, he's very single! Maybe I can find you a nice Christmas present too, Brad! LOL!