Let me tell you a story.

One Friday recently, I worked hard in my clinic, from 9.30 am to 1.30 pm or so.

It is a strange thing,  that patients seem to get unwell towards the end of the working week, and seek help on Fridays as they anticipate their weekend off. Consequently, I work harder on Fridays than on any other day. As we headed into town for our lunch, I was tired and drained after giving, giving, giving, all at the end of “My” week also!

We headed to our favourite Chinese, (where we are regular customers and really enjoy the company of the very friendly and accommodating staff). We have always felt very at home with them, and by now, have our favourite menu (different from the usual) and also our favourite table.

Last Friday I had only soup. I was tired, I hardly had the energy to eat, as I found it difficult to rid my mind of the multiple problems with which I had been grappling only a short time previous.

Of late we have adopted a little “coffee house” further down the street, to where we go after lunch and have our favourite Cappuccino.(though we are very fond of our Chinese friends, they just cannot make Cappuccino!!)

It was a mild, almost warm day, a gentle breeze carried the medley of sounds so typical of a busy shopping street. But as we walked along, that same breeze carried something else to us, something different, something attractive and enchanting. A crowd had gathered, busy shoppers stopped in their tracks, momentarily held in some suspended trance, but by what? As we arrived to join the throng, straining to see between shoulders and heads, all was revealed to us.

There, where two ancient roads converge, a spot renowned in the history of the” City of the Tribes”, where so many differing peoples have gathered throughout the ages for purposes of peace and war, gathered yet another “army of men”, gathered kindred spirits, gathered like-minded souls. It was quickly evident that these men were not content to merely “gather”, no! These men were here on a mission, and we were ready to hear them.

Yes they raised their voices, but not in anger, fear or favour.

These were troubadours.

These were soldiers in a very elitist army indeed.

These were the champions of the human voice.

Though great was their number, they sang as one, yet they harmonized when appropriate, yet again, they displayed the full range and power of the human voice in flight, delicate and subtle when needed, strong and forceful when required.

Entranced, we stood allowing the waves to wash over, allowing the stresses to fail away, allowing ourselves to enjoy this “special time”, this “something unique” so seldom possible in this hectic world of ours.

They sang “our’ songs, they sang “their’ songs, they sang and encouraged us to sing with them.

It took little to see that they loved to sing.

At one stage, they paused for a break, and we moved on, back from the “special time” and into the “ordinary”!

Later, we had the luck to meet with one of them, his name was Jaap Vierwinden.

Through him we came to know their story.

Later again that evening, at home, and looking back on my day, I realized how very special that encounter had been.

One never knows when one is making an impression.

We often miss these special moments which are the “stuff of memory”. But on that Friday, at that ancient junction, in my City of Galway, on the most westerly of westerly land masses of this Newly United Europe, I met a group of Dutchmen, and they sang for me. They sang and I listened, we sang together, and later we talked.

My day was changed, my energies restored, my spirits lifted, and once again I learned that “Music” has a power far greater than the spoken word, far stronger than that which separates us, far older than the wisest amongst us, a “truly unifying, universal force”.

Looking forward to the next visit

Keep in touch

Regards

Corn and Dr. B.