Yesterday Once More

I was a pretty lonely kid. With the exception of one other kid or two who would drift in and out of my sphere (when it was convenient for them) I had no friends. I was the gay kid and I was “weird” and everyone knew that so no one spoke to me except to bully me. That all changed when I was 15.

Before there were magnet schools (schools with a special focus like music or science) in the city where I grew up, there were still (sort of) magnet schools. If you wanted a trade, you went to one high school. If you were interested in theater, there was a school that excelled at that. The high school that I was sent to was the school that had an outstanding music program. Kids miles away would try to get transferred into the school I was assigned to just to be a part of the music program. At the end of my last year in Jr. High, the music teacher there put a word in for me to the Choral Director at the high school that I would be attending the following Autumn. Then something magical happened.

The Choral Director allowed me to audition for the most elite music group the in the school. Think “Glee” and you’re in the right area. This was the gold standard. This is what everyone aspired to. Only Juniors and Seniors were ever allowed in and yet the Choral Director was letting me audition.

By the way, this was not a popular choice on his part. But it wasn’t too big a deal. No one dreamed I’d make the group. Not even me.

I auditioned with The Carpenters’ song “Yesterday Once More.” I remember every note. Every bit of harmony. I remember where I was standing in the Choral Room. I have the song on a flash drive in my car. Every time it plays, I am transported back to that moment. Sometimes I even get goose bumps.

You probably can sense where this is going. I made the group. I was the first freshman in the schools 150 year history to do that. And do you know what happened after that?

Suddenly, I had friends. Suddenly, everyone wanted to be my friend. Football players and cheerleaders and popular kids who had bullied me just the week before were patting me on the back and chatting me up. Do you know what happened after that?

I rebelled. It felt shallow and fake to me and I turned my nose up at them.

Now it did turn out that I wound up with friends in High School. They were the other kids in the “Glee” group. They saw I had talent and they apparently didn’t care about the rest.

This was the late 70s/early 80s and so the group performed a lot of music by The Carpenters. I came to love them deeply, in particular, Karen. She was a low alto and I was a high tenor so our voices were pretty much in the same range. I loved her voice and the dreamy/moody music that she would write because that’s basically who I was back then. Dreamy and moody.

Whenever someone asks me if I could speak to someone who has passed over, of course I think of my mom or dad. Or my grandmother. Or my dear friend Brian who died way too young but whom I still think of all the time.

However, I also think of Karen Carpenter. The truth is, I get messages from my mom and dad all the time via master medium Heather Hildebrand.

But Karen changed my life. Or rather, she provided a tune that allowed me to change my life. I’d love to talk to her about that and to hear her maybe sing a bit of it for me. That would be a real dream come true.

So… who would you like to speak to who has passed over to the spiritual realm? Is the answer surprising? Even to you?

Speaking of changing your life, I’m doing a FREE 3-part class called The Three Keys to Manifesting Your Magical Life starting on Friday, September 9th and continuing on Monday September 12th and Wednesday September 14th. If you’re interested in transforming your own life, I’ve got some tips to help you out with that. And like I said… it’s FREE! You can sign up here.

With you on the journey,

~Radleigh