President Hinckley

For those of you who haven't heard yet, President Hinckley passed away last night. He was 97 years old. He lived such an amazing and energetic life that it's almost hard for me to believe that he's gone. He just kept going and going for so long. I feel privileged to have been a member of the church while he was President.

I was lucky to have a few opportunities to hear President Hinckley speak in person and to shake his hand. When I was at Southern Virginia College our choir sang at a regional conference where he spoke. He found out that our signature song was an a cappella arrangement of "Shenandoah", which apparently was a favorite of his, and during his closing remarks he asked if we would sing it. We were unprepared and needed a pitch to start so this guy Adam crossed the stage to get to a piano. It was so crowded that he had to step over and around people. I guess it was taking too long because President Hinckley said "Come on now son, we don't have all day!" with a big smile on his face. I'll always remember his humor in that situation. I had a solo at the beginning of the song and so I got to stand right next to his seat and sing. It was an amazing day I will never forget.