7. Heaven

When I imagine heaven, I imagine music, so when I see music, I see a little bit of heaven. It's no wonder that choir is one of my favorite places to be.

There's heaven in each of our hugs, our smiles, our laughter... 

There's heaven in that nutmeg-sprinkled hot cocoa Mrs. Svenn makes for us year as we decorate her Christmas tree and laugh and sing. Rock climbing barefoot in the cold December night air. Caroling in and out of restaurants. Cooks coming out from the kitchens and singing wildly off-key with us.

There's heaven in a rainy day rehearsal at Rebekah's house. We sing by the fire, marveling at the simple beauty of the white room, the piano... We laugh as we try to ignore Colonel Mustard's attention-deprived whining.

There's heaven in an airplane ride to a new experience. Rachel sits between Anna and I and we squezze her hands in support as the plane takes off. Her eyes are shut tight and we laugh and hold on tighter.

There's heaven in an opera. Rita and I singing Mulan songs at the top of our lungs as we play B.S. with a number of other girls. Casey and I joking in silent, silent whispers in the wings of the theater, trying so hard to stop laughing and never succeeding.

There's heaven in a carpool. Singing along to Wicked. Loud discussions about books, movies, hot guys... 

There's heaven in those secret nooks and crannies we sing in. The dark, beautiful chapel in Denver that should have been locked that night. The cramped bathrooms at the Cal Poly baseball diamond. The Denver train station a kind security guard reluctantly kicked us out of. The tight space of an airplane for the crew when it landed.

And there's heaven in those special, never forgotten moments of emotion. We witness a man taping up a "missing" sign for his brother. When he leaves, somehow we all know what we have to do. We join hands around the poster and close our eyes as the little mall falls deathly silent. The quiet refrain of our Silent Night rings up into the glass ceiling as even quieter tears slip from our eyes.

Yes, there is heaven here. I can see it, even if no one else can.