@VerMOZZica

I loved to sing when I was a child, but I, too, was shy (not the selective mutism shy, but the normative shy). Being on stage is not easy for me, and I've been on stage with a choir or receiving certain awards, but I always wanted to get off that stage and simply do things I love.

I cannot carry a tune now if I tried. My smoking made it impossible for me to maintain a second soprano or even an alto. But, I love and appreciate music.

When I was a kid, we and other kids in my family pretended we were rock stars and were auditioning for that Ed McMahon 1980s show (not sure if I spelled his name correctly). Sometimes in the shower, as an adult, I'll still pretend to sing - albeit off-tune. It's fun to pretend, even if the real dream never came true.

Prior to my smoking days, I sang in the choir in high school and, years later, at the beginning of my smoking days in my 30s, I wrote one song lyric for church and performed in the choir for Christmas. I also wrote one private song (lyrics only) with a dear friend during my late 20s, about a few years before I started smoking.

Anyway, my point is that even if we don't get our dreams, we can appreciate the things we admired in those dreams and continue to utilize them in some fun way, such as going out to Karaoke with friends, or dancing and listing to rock music with friends at a night club or concert, or attending a party with really cool music and safe friends to sing off key with, or blasting our favorite rock bands in the privacy of our homes, or listening to our favorite music on our MP3s while we are out walking, grocery shopping, traveling on the bus/train/plane, or driving (with the MP3 being plugged into the car's speakers).

My half-brothers and half-sisters are musicians, and some of their kids are, too. I admire their talents - talents I don't share, but am really glad to see in others.