Sing for Each Other

While at Mass yesterday, I sat between my mother and teen daughter. The three of us shared care of baby. During the Offertory, we sang Amazing Grace. I smiled as the three of us belted out this hymn that reminds us of my deceased grandmother Me-Me, my mother's mother. We sang one, two, three, four verses. Unusually, due to a second collection, we moved to the fifth verse...

When we've been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we'd first begun.

Within the first line, my mother and I became silent. I was choked with tears. I stared straight ahead at the altar, fighting to keep my composure. I felt so close to the promise of eternal life, to the communion of saints, and to my mother and Me-Me that I was overwhelmed. My mother was comforting me with her mutual silence. We didn't dare look at each other.

Then I heard my daughter's voice singing clearly, confidently, and beautifully. She pulled me back to the pew, to my amazing here and now. She was singing our song when my mom and I couldn't. Amazing Grace how sweet the sound.