Personal Stories

Singing for Vince (Gina, Sept. 2004)

Last weekend, after a non-backpacking hiatus of 20 years, I strapped a pack on and, along with a few other novices (and some dynamo backpackers) hiked out of Tuolomne Meadows down to Glen Aulin. It was an incredibly magical experience full of breathtaking moments. I wanted to sing some of the Threshold repertoire as I hiked, but found that with the altitude, my breath wouldn’t support singing and walking at the same time, so I sang them to myself and they set the rhythm for my step.

With about a mile to go on Sunday afternoon before reaching the trailhead where we had left our cars, we came across a man lying with his head on a log, extremely sunburnt and disoriented. Vince had just been found by another hiker, Mike, who was caring for him. Mike told us Vince had been lost for 6 days without food or water, and that they were awaiting the arrival of medics. I knelt down next to Vince and told him that Vince was my father’s name, and offered him the tiny pouch of lavender from my garden that had accompanied me on the weekend trip, and he allowed me to put it around his neck and hold it up to his nose. I took my leave, in awe of the experience of communing with Vince, put my pack back on and continued on up the trail. A few yards up the trail I decided to offer Vince a gift of song, so I left my pack and ran back to where he was lying, trying to decide which song to leave with him. Vince consented to receiving the gift, Sherrin’s “Listen”. I told Vince that I knew he couldn’t talk since he needed to save his energy, but that I knew he could listen, so the song seemed like the right gift for him. I shared with him the story of how Sherrin came to write the song, then sang just one verse as I knelt over him. He tried to wipe away a tear as I sang, and when I finished he muttered something in very slurred speech that sounded very much like, “You love me, don’t you?” I assured him that I did, told him I was carrying him in my heart, and took my leave. After a few minutes back hiking on the trail, we saw the park ranger with an medic assistant hurrying past us to reach Vince, and we were told that they started an IV on him while they awaited the arrival of a horse and wheeled litter to get Vince out and to the hospital.

So please send Vince love and light, and know that our sacred repertoire is now in the mountain air around Yosemite. I thank you for the gift of song that I have received through Threshold—even though I can’t attend most of the rehearsals—and the greater gift of being able to connect with others through the songs. They are my form of prayer—I have a half-hour commute to work in the morning and I never listen to music on the radio. I make my own.