I had a beautiful singing voice as a boy. For years I sang soprano in the St. Lawrence Church choir, conducted by Mrs. Sullivan the church organist. When I turned twelve and began to struggle with the higher notes, I faked it, lip-synching the words. I faked it for weeks until finally, during an ineffectual rehearsal, Mrs. Sullivan asked me to sing a few lines of “How Great Thou Art.” When she leaned in and I refused to sing, she violently reared her head. Then she pulled me aside and asked if my parents had ever told me about deodorant.
Salvatore Difalco lives in Toronto.