Mississippi Dreams

It was 1958, in the small town of Greenwood, Mississippi. Julianne was 10 years old. She had lived with her grandparents since she was a baby, ever since her dad passed in a car accident. She didn't have many memories of him, most came from a picture she had of him holding her that she kept on her nightstand and a dress and matching hat he had bought her. She had long outgrown it, yet she refused to get rid of it, it had come from her dad.

Her mom had quickly decided that she wasn't much of the motherly type, and after trying to find someone to take her young daughter in, her grandparents stepped in and adopted her. Off and on, she would come back to see Julianne and would try to take up where they had left off, but the years continued to go by. Julianne was growing up, and time wasn't going to stand still.

Julianne had an interesting childhood. On one hand, she was born old soul. Perhaps because of the loss of her dad so young, she always knew that life was valuable. Even when she was in kindergarten, she would lay in bed and wonder the meaning of life. Why are we here, and what happens when we're not? What's next?

On the other hand, she was also a typical kid. She loved to run and swing. On hot summer days, she would beg her grandparents to fix up the pool so she could go out and swim, making a makeshift pool slide by connecting the slide of her swing set to it. She had a huge doll collection and at night, she would wear her tutu and dance in her room.

Her grandparents owned a farm, so she grew up with animals. She would help her granddad feed the pigs and collect eggs from the chicken coop. Not to mention the goats, ducks, and her beloved horse. This would give her a lifelong love of animals, though she was slightly afraid of chickens after one unfortunate incident with one particularly aggressive rooster.

From the time she was a baby, her first best friend was a cousin who lived down the road. They would spend hours playing, and would climb up the ladder to the barn to see what toys happened to be up there. She didn't find any toys, but she was met with quite a few splinters. At one time, they decided to create a club. One day, Julianne's cousin decided that this club should become a band. He asked Julianne to sing. Nervously, she let out notes that were less than on key. "Ugh, what was that Julianne, that was awful!" her cousin exclaimed. "Sorry, I guess I can't sing very well," Julianne answered. However, there was more to it than that.

It was around Christmas time, and Julianne was playing in the living room with the radio on. Suddenly, the new song, "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" played. Suddenly, Julianne jumped up on the step that held the fireplace which she used as her stage, hair brush in hand, and loudly sang along. The truth was, Julianne could sing, though she didn't want anyone to know. She had always been painfully shy and had always preferred to be in the background.

She had always loved music; it was in her blood. One of her uncles was Jimmy Rogers, famous country singer of the twenties and thirties. She not only sang, but she would also play around on her guitar and piano. She couldn't hold a pencil or pen without coming up with a beat on her desk. She loved a good beat and guitar solo. She would often get lost while listening to her favorite songs, mentally breaking down every instrument on each song to understand what was used to create it. Deep down she would dream of becoming a famous singer, yet she was afraid to let anyone know that she actually could. Still, she had her dreams.

A few years later, she was sitting in the pew of her church with her grandma. She had never been a huge fan of gospel music; it didn't have that beat that she was so fund of. On Sunday nights, people were invited to talk or sing. As a fluke, the preacher asked her to sing something. Still shy, she responded by saying that she didn't sing. It was ok, he would sing with her. Reluctantly, she finally agreed. He was a loud Baptist preacher after all, surely his voice would cover hers. When asked her song was her favorite, she chose the only one that she really liked, after hearing one of her favorite actresses sing it on tv, "How Great Thou Art." Behind the pew, the pianist began to play, and it was time. She nervously held mike in hand, and sang. Suddenly, the preacher stopped singing, leaving Julianne to carry it solo.

Julianne finished and looked around to see mouths agape. Did this voice actually come from this shy, quiet teenager? Her face turned a bright red as the congregation clapped. She went back to her seat, thinking that would be the end of it. At the end of the service, she was stopped by the choir director and was told she needed to join the choir. It would be fun. Julianne agreed and joined the church choir.

When she got home, she laid down on her bed, her head spinning on what happened that day. She had always loved to sing, and now she finally overcome her fear and sang in public. Of course, her dreams were much bigger. This shy, quiet girl from Mississippi had a passion, a dream, and a beat in her soul. Who knows, maybe one day that dream would come true.