Finding My Voice
I'm told I came into this world with quite a voice. My arrival was not a quiet one: I burst into my earthly existence over a month early, causing many medical concerns about possible issues with my lung development, among other things. But, seconds after birth, the story goes that I practically deafened the hospital room with my screaming as the doctor half-smiled and said to my parents, "Her lungs are fine!" As the months progressed and sounds turned into words, stories abound in my family of a constant stream of talking and singing and anything that involved my voice. Apparently, in the beginning, I had no trouble speaking up, expressing myself, sharing my vivacious spirit and my thoughts with the world. As I grew up a bit, that morphed into conversation and interest in people. Whether it was calling up the bakery to reserve some bread for us to pick up or walking up to speak with others at church or social settings, I had no difficulty using my voice. But then, somew...
