Goodbye To All That

Because I never had a brother, in the 1970s I decided to "adopt" Elvis and Luciano Pavarotti. We were all born within a year of each other, first me, then Elvis, then Luciano. If I'd had the voice, I would have been a singer, too, but I learned in the 8th grade "glee club" that my voice was in the very restricted mezzo range. This broke my heart into little pieces, but I sort of got over it.

I'm glad that I never saw either of the "brothers" in person, though I was once invited to a sort of party where Elvis was staying; I was stuck at the University with no way to travel, but if getting there had been possible, I wouldn't have gone.

No more fantasy brothers. In the fifty or so years I've got left down here, I'll make do with reality. The wonderful real folks who like me, even though I continue to sing like a scratchy 78 whose crank wasn't wound tight enough.

"...if thou wast not granted to sing, thou would'st surely die." --Walt Whitman