Sing your song

It was big news. In Canterbury, England, in the Canterbury Cathedral, where boys’ choirs have sung for more than 1,000 years, a choir of 16 girls was singing for the first time, The Dallas Morning News reported in its January 24, 2014, issue.

A female choir “Is a natural development” that adds “diversity and richness” to the cathedral’s traditions, says Robert Willis, the dean of Canterbury. “Nothing of the old tradition is damaged. It’s being enriched, enlivened and developed.”

The news that girls can now sing their songs in the cathedral reminded me of a quote from Frank McCourt. “Sing your song. Dance your dance,” McCourt wrote in his book Angela’s Ashes.

Today, girls can go to college, become doctors or sing in the Canterbury Cathedral. Each girl has a special song to sing, and every woman has a special song to sing. When girls and women are allowed to sing their songs, the world is enriched.