Lori Bennett and I first met in Miss Brooks’ afternoon Kindergarten class. I don’t remember a whole lot about that year. I know I loved playing on the tiger slide at recess. To this day I can still recite my lines from the Christmas program. I always liked it when it was my turn to go to the office to get milk for the class. Two children would walk to the office and return to the classroom lugging back 24 little individual milk cartons. It went great with the graham crackers we had for snack time every day.
When I was six my family moved just outside of town and I changed schools. I wouldn’t meet up with Lori again until around the fourth grade. That was when her family moved four houses up the street from us on Navajo Way. Lori and I would finish off our elementary, jr. high and high school years together.
I’ve shared so many fun-filled memories with her: walking her St. Bernards around the block, riding our bikes into town, sleepovers, roller skating, and picking green beans in her grandparents' garden. As we got older it was body surfing at Santa Cruz, church basketball, food fights on the steps outside the church, girls’ camp, and early morning shenanigans before school. Lori makes a mean toasted PB & J sandwich. Together with my sisters, we’d put on song & dance recitals for our two families. Once we were even able to convince our brothers to create a strobe light effect with flashlights as we performed The Age of Aquarius. At times she’d join us on family outings out at the lake. Lori was always up for adventure.
We loved singing around the piano. She has a beautiful soprano voice that she inherited from her mother, that along with her gorgeous red hair. I always loved harmonizing with Lori. We even sang in a quartet throughout our high school days. Lori is the reason I know all the words to the hymn Do What Is Right. We must have been around 15 when we were asked to accompany and lead the music for the Primary children at church each Thursday afternoon. I remember the day Lori taught this hymn. She wrote out the words on a big chalkboard and often substituted her primitive stick figure art for words. After singing it she’d have a child come up and erase a word/picture or two and then they’d sing it again. We all knew that hymn before we left that day.
Lori is confident, smart and has an amazing sense of humor. I count myself lucky for having shared my formative childhood years with her.
Love you, Lori!!!
So here you go - Do What Is Right for children’s choir. For the recording the strings represent the children’s voices.
Click HERE to download free sheet music