For Lease: My Grandmother’s Voice In A Box

Charleigh Clark,
Times Staff

Last year, my grandmother passed away at 93. In the final years of her life, she lost her voice. My grandmother always had the most beautiful voice. When she sang, her gorgeous soprano would envelop an entire room. In a crowded church, it would overpower every other voice in the room. When she sang, you heard her story, one of pain and tragedy and of moving forward. It was a story one could not express with words. After she passed, her voice haunted me in my sleep. For two months my dreams would be filled with the echoing sensation of her song. It was later I discovered that, before she lost her voice, my grandmother kept her voice in a little knitting container.

After her funeral, I found out that my grandmother bequeathed me this box. As the youngest of my family, it was my duty to spread my grandmother’s voice to future generations. I held onto the box for almost half a year, creaking it open now and then to hear a faint whisper of my grandmother’s song. Some nights I would remove the lid and have her voice fill my room. Her voice always brought me back to being 9 years old, sitting in the living room and listening to my grandmother play church hymns on her grand piano. I would often remain in that state for ages, wanting to never return to the present.

My grandmother’s voice had provided so much comfort for me in the months following her passing. It reminded me that beauty still existed in a world of bleakness. However, I realized that it was time to move on. I am now offering my grandmother’s voice on lease, for anyone in need of comfort, solace, or is looking to move on from some unexpected tragedy, I offer you my grandmother’s voice. Please take good care of it. Remember to share it with others. Spread my grandmother’s voice.

For more articles by Charleigh Clark, click here. To get in touch with this writer, email charleigh@surrealtimes.net.


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