This past May I heard an angel sing. It was in Caplin Cove, a suburb of Hants Harbour, Trinity Bay. I had been lying in bed in our unfinished cabin relaxed after successfully settling two preschool boys. I had almost surrendered to the sandman myself when my husband arrived back from a walk in the harbour and said I should accompany him up the road to our neighbours' house in Caplin Cove where a time was happening. It was dusk and definitely cool. I pulled on a couple of shirts over my pajamas and a coat, hat and mitts, and with one last glance back at army-style sleeping arrangements I headed out into the fresh sea air leaving the two preschoolers in the care of a townie guest visiting our Shangri-La.
I wasn’t aware there was an angel present when I first entered the candle-lit saltbox near the back of the cove. Because he had no wings, nor a halo; I had no idea that we were in the presence of a celestial being. It wasn’t until his mother asked him to sing for his dessert and he stood in front of the wood-burning stove that I knew. I knew for certain that an angel was among us.
No sooner had the first words escaped his lips as he stood rim-rod straight before us that every inch of skin was goose bumped and I had to start stripping off the layers that covered my pajamas. It was his profoundly moving voice that gave it away. A voice that carried me to a place I don’t often reach. A voice that there, in the hundred-year-old house, singing a Capella in the flickering light of the candles, assured me that life was good and I was privileged to be living it.
The angel has a name – Edward. The song he sang was In My Life written by John Lennon. I have never paid much attention to this song of its lyrics.
Until Edward sang:
There are places I'll remember All my life, though some have changed Some forever, not for better Some have gone and some remain All these places have their moments With lovers and friends I still can recall Some are dead and some are living
In my life, I've loved them all
Edward sang the lyrics infinitely more beautifully than Lennon. He even sang the instrumental links.
Everyone from Crosby, Stills and Nash, Johnny Cash and Ozzy Osbourne have covered this song. But none ever sang it as beautifully as Edward, the angel, in the candle-lit house in Caplin Cove, Trinity Bay.
“That’ll stay with me for a long time,” said my husband as we navigated our way back to our shell of a cabin down in the harbour.
I didn`t have to reply. I just held his hand and breathed in the stars until the rays of the light in the bay guided us home.
But of all these friends and lovers There is no one compares with you And these memories lose their meaning When I think of love as something new Though I know I'll never lose affection For people and things that went before I know I'll often stop and think about them In my life, I love you more
Though I know I'll never lose affection For people and things that went before I know I'll often stop and think about them In my life, I love you more In my life-- I love you more
Susan can be reached at susan@48degrees.ca