Disabled musician keynotes inaugural March for Life Day

It was a celebration of life at the St. Vincent De Paul Parish in Perryville, Missouri, as area high schools gathered for the first annual March for Life Day on Friday.

Vincential Marian Youth Southeast Missouri (VMY SEMO) and North Perry County Youth Group collaborated to create the event, which lasted all day, and included a march to the Perryville town square, a speaker series featuring guest speakers, a panel discussion and more.

Michael Giasi, executive director of VMY SEMO, said students from Valle Catholic in Ste. Genevieve, St. Vincent, Vincent Marion Youth and VMY Youth Group students who attend public school or are homeschooled were in attendance, as well as volunteers and members of the church.

Pro-life activist and musician Tony Melendez gave the keynote address, where he went back and forth from telling his life story, to singing and playing popular Catholic songs using his guitar -- although, probably not in the way most are picturing.

Melendez walked into the parish Friday afternoon carrying his guitar between his shoulder and chin, and sat down in a chair on stage. He shuffled around, set the guitar on the ground in front of him, nodded to his brother, Jose, who controls the video and sound during Tony's performances, and began using his toes to play the guitar -- a technique he refers to as "toe plucking."

High school boys from St. Vincent Valley sit next to each other in the pews at the St. Vincent DePaul parish in Perryville, Missouri, during Friday's keynote address of the March for Life Day event.Brooke Holford ~ Southeast Missourian

Melendez was born without both of his arms and a clubbed foot due to his mother taking the drug Thalidomide during pregnancy. Thalidomide is commonly used to relieve nausea symptoms in pregnant women.

In between songs, Melendez shared bits and pieces of his life story with the audience, and stressed he feels amazing about his life and experiences. He said he always tried to view everything he got in life as a "gift," including his disabilities.

Melendez encouraged the students to do the same, and to find one thing in life they are ‘crazy’ about, like how he feels about music, or his faith.

Giasi said they decided to host the March for Life Day in Perryville because many area schools would normally send their students to Washington, D.C., to attend the national pro-life march. However, they decided against it this year due to "fear for student safety because of COVID-19 and political tension."

The church was almost at full capacity during the March for Life Day events, Giasi said, which means around 220 people came out to participate.

Giasi said he hoped the event helped to "open the hearts and minds" of those in attendance, so they could learn to accept all the gifts they've been given in their lives, just like Melendez.

Giasi added he picked Melendez to give the keynote address because he had seen him speak at an event before, and was confident Melendez could help open the students’ eyes to all they’ve been given and have to be grateful for in their lives, including life itself.

"We all have gifts and talents and skills and abilities, and sometimes, we just take it for granted," Giasi said. "And I think if we can inspire in [students] the beauty and the preciousness of life -- this gift -- it really allows them to change."