Being Thankful

It's nearly Thanksgiving, and as the "official" day of thanks approaches, I'm keenly aware of just how much I have to be thankful for. I am thankful that I'm able to reflect upon life and appreciate it and all it involves not on just one day in November, but every other day of the year as well.

In today's modern world, Thanksgiving isn't just about being thankful anymore. It's about the commercial Christmas season: Shopping and spending. It marks the traditional start to the winter holidays, though much of retail has already begun. It's this commercialism that nearly ruined my Christmas spirit last year. But I still love this time of the year. It is, perhaps, my most favorite time of the year. I know it certainly holds the most magic.

And speaking of Christmas and magic, there is absolutely no better way to combine the two than to see the Trans Siberian Orchestra perform live. I'm thankful (and lucky) to have attended four of their concerts so far, all Christmas shows save one. My fifth TSO concert is approaching this Sunday and I'm looking forward to taking the family and doing the show right with seats in the 2nd row! What a start to the Christmas season!

To help ramp up my pre-concert excitement, I've already begun listening to the Christmas CDs. Although I could listen to TSO year round, I force myself to put the holiday music away for the other 10 1/2 months of the year, relying only on their two non-Christmas albums when I need a TSO hit. Just yesterday, while listening to the Christmas trio at work, I was re-appreciating the quality of the talent they have in that band, and remembering seeing them perform on previous visits to Cleveland. I know the touring lineup changes from year to year, and those on tour aren't necessarily the same people who record on the albums. As someone who isn't a "know it all" TSO fan, some of the faces on stage are different from year to year. It made me wonder what happened to some of the faces, and voices, that had touched me in the past.

I was stunned to learn that one of TSO's most powerful voices, a man who would hold the attention of entire arenas when he sang, had fallen silent.

Daryl Pediford was amazing to hear live. As vocally awe inspiring as any of the TSO performers are, Daryl stood out among them. I still get chills just remembering him perform. His passing was not recent, it was in 2004, though I just learned of it. I don't know how I went for six years without hearing about it.

At this time of thanks, I'm thankful to have heard him perform not once, but twice. Two times. Two concerts. Two nights. They may have been seven and eight years ago, but some memories don't fade as quickly as others.

For anyone not familiar with the voice of Daryl Pediford, here is a You Tube video from a 2003 performance in Toronto, which is also the last tour on which I was honored to hear him sing. May the voice of "The Prince of Peace" rest in peace.