Talent Shows and Football Games: Really One in the Same

Charity is so talented. She sings (as do most 11 year old girls, right?) and loves to dance. She is clearly musically gifted, but what I consider to be one of her greatest talents is her ability to learn quickly and her instinctive application of that which she has learned in appropriate ways... in other words... she's pretty sharp.

She is learning to play the piano now, which is to say she's learning to read music and coordinate that with striking the correct keys on a piano keyboard. It's a process that takes many people years to get down. She is making amazingly rapid progress. Not only is she learning to read and strike well, but she likes to tinker around at the keyboard and create her own music. She has a very good ear for it.

The annual talent show for the fifth graders at her school came around and Charity wanted to be in it, of course. She wasn't sure if she should sing (a capella) a favorite song from the musical "Annie" or if she should play the piano. After consulting with her art and music teachers, she decided to play. After watching the show last night, I can see why she was encouraged to play the piano. She was the only kid who did. Most of the other kids sang to a CD recording. None of them sang as well as she could have, of course! ... one kid did a few dance moves and a few told some jokes.

Anyway, my little girl played a short piece she composed herself. The video associated with this post doesn't do justice to the way her music sounds live. It was the best I could get from the back of the room. I'm proud of her. She is such a sweet and good person and a joy in my life.

I should say, I'm not one who frequents fifth grade talent shows for the entertainment value. If my kid hadn't been in the show, I wouldn't have been at it. I should also say, in the spirit of full disclosure, that I'm not a football fan either. However, I didn't miss one game of the '08 season of middle school and high school football. I don't love the game. I do love my kids.

Someone commented to me last fall, "Sally, you must be a big football fan." I replied, "No, I'm a big Levi fan." I could have just as easily answered, "I'm a Philip fan," or "a Charity fan," or a "Daniel, Megan, Emily, Katherine, or Joshua fan." I guess it's like that for all of us who love our kids. Talent shows: Football games; they're all the same. We're banking on the impact of our fan status producing similar effects in our musicians as our football players. We hope our kids will remember we were there for them and it will have meant something good.

After all is said and done, it's what we remember that makes up so much of our lives. And what what we are able to recall will be the best of what we have... one of these days.

For as long as the internet and blogs exist, I hope this video clip helps to enable happy memories for Charity... and me.