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The Voice of an AngelThe following letter is reprinted here with permission from the author. Dear Doctor Lenhoff: Hi! My name is Mary Lou Biel. I attended your seminar with Gloria in California at the convention. I was totally impressed by your seminar. You surely were quite helpful to all the parents there. I am a regualr edcuation teacher who happens to be writing a dissertation on Williams Symdrone. I am getting my doctorate in Education and I chose to write my dissertation on a handicap. During the course of my doctoral studies, I interviewed handicap people and was appalled at what seemed to be their never ending struggle. I knew then that my dissertation would have to be a 'service work' for the handicap. My professors at Boyer School of Education ( a corresponding school located in Santa Ana) try to persuade me to pick a disability that wasn't well known. While I was deciding which disability to address, my daughter's best friend had a baby with Williams and from her I found out that a close-by neighbor of mine had just become a regional chair of WSA. I also found out that 3 days after I was to attend a doctoral seminar in Santa Ana on July 13, there would be a WS convention just 30 minutes away. I guess God was giving me the direction I needed. So I have just completed Chapter 1 of my dissertation. It is written mainly for the education community. Besides extensive research, I will conduct between 10 to 12 case studies. I already started 4 of them while I was attending the convention. Before the convention, I had spent about 6 months researching and reading just about everything I could get my hands on about WS. I also purchased the 60 Minute tape and A Highly Musical Species. I was really so taken by the talents of all the WS individuals that performed and Gloria in particular. Going back to the seminar, I didn't approach you because there were so many parents that needed to talk to you. And then I thought that I would see you at the talent show - but it didn't materialize. After the seminar, I went up to Gloria and I told her she had an angel's voice. Please tell her this story for me. One nignt a few weeks before the convention, I went to bed rather sad and upset. That night, I had the most wonderful and moving dream. My guardian angel was sitting on a chair next to my bed. He was holding this golden leaf book that I recognized as the Bible. He was also singing to me. His voice was the most beautiful voice I had ever heard. I can still picture the dream but I never heard anything like the singing before or after until ---- Until I heard Gloria. She sang the Alleluia song and the Arabic song so beautifully. The operatic song was quite moving as well. But as I was watching and listening to her, I thought about my dream. Gloria's voice seemed to have been the voice of my angel ( as close as I can remember.) The memory of it brought back that peace. Please share this story with Gloria and tell her thank you for sharing her special singing talent with us. (I was fortunate to buy the cassette of the seminar) If you have more cassettes, I would like to buy them. Thank you again and peace to you, Mary Lou Biel Note: The 60 Minutes tape and A Highly Musical Species referenced in the letter are both available through the WSA by writing to info@williams-syndrome.org. |
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