Joel's First Recital

Yes, it's the recorder, and yes he was the best. Even if his eyes kept straying off the page, and his fingers sometimes slipped from the right note to another one that was a bit off key, he still was the best. I know one thing, for a kid who's five and half years old, who would rather be out playing in the sun than sweating for thirty minutes in a hot room, in front of a roomful of adults, he really did his absolute best and that makes him number one in my eyes.

Funny to think that I should grow teary eyed over such a thing as a recorder recital. There they were, four children, ranging from five to seven years old. Of course, a seven year old is way beyond a five, but he should be.

When they got to the last number, Eric (the boy next door), played his clarinet along with them. That boy can really play. He gives clarinet playing a different dimension. Beautiful tones...it's hard to put into words how it's possible for someone to put emotions into notes that are blown out of a tube, but he does it wonderfully. That is a gift too, because not all musicians can play expressively.

Eric's playing transformed, the enthusiastic harmony of four young children into something magical. I found myself thinking, these four children are looking at what could be their future, and I had to stop for a while, because I felt a bit choked up and one doesn't cry at a recital, especially when it's a recorder recital. I wish my parents could have been there, I wish my family could have been there. They would have been clapping too and cheering our little boy, just as the others got their cheers from their own moms and dads, grandpas, grandmas and aunts..

But my little boy, he'll be okay. He didn't really care about the applause. What mattered most to him was that he played the best that he could and he did it beautifully.