I SANG THE SOLO WITH HIS EMPTY CHAIR IN FRONT OF ME

Dear Delyara, My husband and I joined the community choir after retirement. He died before our winter concert. I stopped attending rehearsals for six months. Our conductor kept sending recordings, never asking when I would return. In September, I went back and sat in the chair beside the one my husband used to take. For weeks, I only mouthed the words. Then the conductor asked me to sing a short solo in the spring concert. Tonight, I sang it. His chair was empty in the front row because my daughter had reserved it for him without telling me. When I saw it, I nearly left the stage. Instead, I looked at the empty chair and began. My voice broke on the second line, then steadied. Afterward, people stood and applauded. That was lovely, but it was not the victory. The victory was hearing my own voice enter the room where grief had kept me silent.