by Melissa Lucchesi, Springfield, PA

I spent 12 years in Catholic school. In ninth grade I began to question my beliefs and to begin to truly develop who I was and what sat best with me. I began researching and then practicing Wicca in tenth grade after a presentation on world religions in my religion class. My family is mostly Catholic and it created a little bit of conflict in the beginning. Still, I held on to my beliefs and felt wonderful about my choice.

One day when I was sitting in the cafeteria, one of my friends told me that she just heard a song on XPN by Dar Williams called “The Christians and the Pagans.” She said I should try to listen for it. It was the first time I heard about XPN and I was so interested of this little radio station that was brave enough to play something so not mainstream. I not only became a devoted XPN listener, but when I heard that song, I felt such joy and peace knowing that there could be peace between religions and feeling in my heart that my family would fully accept my spiritual choices one day.

Now my mom celebrates my choice and even participates sometimes in the beautiful rituals of my religion. Years later when I first saw Dar in concert, I could not hold back my smiles knowing that her beautiful lyrics helped me to feel more confident in what I already knew so strongly was a huge part of my life.