Chinese Version
04-29-2022, Friday, Windy and sunny
This morning, I asked my daughter: “What time do you need me to take care of baby Ben?”
She said: “At 7:30 PM tonight. I need to pick Shirah up from school, because she is having a singing performance in school this afternoon.”
I asked: “Can I go to listen to her singing this afternoon?”
“Restrictions on the campus are still high, due to the Covid. It is not easy to attend, but I can ask her.”
I thought a bit and said: “Shirah is so sweet, asking her probably will distract her attention. I better not go, as I don’t want to disturb her.”
In the afternoon, baby Ben went outside for a walk with his parents, I heard he slept the entire time while being outdoors.
After baby Ben came home and after I helped to put him to sleep, I went out to sit on a wooden chair on campus to watch the spring sights and to write my story. Though it was sunny, I felt cold because of the strong wind.
Close to 6:00 PM, I saw my daughter’s message: “Shirah’s performance got cancelled (probably because of Covid). I invited her to come over to sing for us tonight. Can you pick her up before 6:30 PM?”
I texted back: “We were planning to have pork wonton for dinner, should I buy ground beef to make dinner tonight?”
“You pick her up, I can prepare something.”
Due to the singing performance, Shirah, who always dresses up beautifully, was even more graceful today. Her long light brown hair was rolled into an elegant bun matched with a pair of white pearl earrings, and her pink dress matched with a white cardigan sweater. When we came back home, my daughter was chopping carrots and leek to be baked with rice and Alex was cutting chives to fry with eggs. Shirah put her white sweater and bright red handbag on top of my daughter’s scarf and sweater on a chair in the hallway. Looking at this, I felt I was observing a young couple’s little chaotic and very simple home full of vitality and warmth, and I tasted a sweetness.
While playing with baby Ben, I overheard the young ladies’ conversation. My daughter said: “Last time we heard your singing was last year around this time at the garden recital in Rachel’s backyard.”
Shirah replied: “At that time, baby Ben was already conceived, but nobody knew it.”
“My period is always irregular, missing a week or sort is normal. I didn’t know either.” Then my daughter asked Shirah: “Do you want to have dinner first or singing first?”
“It is better not eating before singing.”
After I fed baby Ben 5-oz of breast milk, we all sat down in the dinning room to listen to Shirah sing. Shirah sang an Italian opera song, her voice was smooth, sweet, clean, and with full volume. Baby Ben sat on my lap quietly enjoying his godmother’s beautiful opera performance. After her singing, we applauded for Shirah. I felt our dinner room was filled with a joyful artistic atmosphere.
Due to the time constraint, after Shirah’s singing, our dinner was further simplified: a plate of plain noodles, a plate of chive fried with eggs, and a plate of baked carrot and leek was our dinner. We all enjoyed them.
It was a very happy Friday evening, thankful for the homey little family and for the passionate and talented Shirah’s mini opera concert.
Listening to Concert
Baby Ben’s godmother originally was having a singing performance on Friday afternoon. Because of Covid, the performance was cancelled, and my daughter invited her to sing for us in our home. Baby Ben was engaged and enjoyed the 6-minute beautiful opera voice of his godmother. We all applauded for his godmother.
shirah is singing:
