Matins: sung -- with music!

Due to the uncertainties of getting Kathy down the stairs and out to my car (along with wheelchair and walker), we arrived first this morning. We got her wheelchair situated and then started preparing for the service. I noted that the organ was unlocked and open, very unusual.

It was Kathy who spotted the little notes posted here and there on the organ. Looking at them, she speculated that we were going to have a substitute organist.

The picture became clear when Nancy arrived and started setting up the organ. Fr. Daniel had in fact arranged for her to play -- which was a huge relief to me! Although my voice was not as bad as I'd feared it would be, getting the right pitch would still have been difficult.

Between Nancy's playing and Kathy's voice, our sung Morning Prayer went very well. Thank you, Nancy, Kathy and Fr. Daniel!!

Afterwards Audrey (with us at St. Bartholomew's for the third time) commented that it's been decades (40 years?) since she last heard Morning Prayer. This seemed like a homecoming for her, she was so delighted -- as were those others of us who remember sung Morning Prayer from so long ago: up until 1968 in my case -- almost a 40 years' absence but as Audrey observed, you never forget it.

Update 5/09: A little investigation by Fr. Daniel and myself turned up the fact that he had sent me a note saying that Nancy would play, but it appears I accidentally deleted it before reading. I've come close to this a few times in Gmail and caught myself, but it seems I may have actually accidentally deleted messages also. There are elements of the Gmail user interface that could be improved.