When the Choir Came to the Hospital Lobby

This one starts in a hospital, but it's a happy story, I promise. My dad works as a security guard at the children's hospital, and every December a high school choir comes to sing in the lobby.

He started sending me videos of it. Kids in wheelchairs clapping along. Nurses dancing in scrubs behind the front desk. A little boy with a stuffed giraffe standing on a chair conducting the choir with total authority.

This year he invited me to come watch in person. I stood next to him by the entrance, and when the kids sang "Feliz Navidad," my dad, who never sings, joined in loudly and badly. The little conductor pointed right at him, delighted.

He's worked there twenty-two years and says December is his favorite month. After seeing it, I understand completely.