12/25/06

Someone asked me, yesterday, what my best Christmas present ever was. That's too easy: my horn. I was in like ninth grade. I was still playing on a beginner trumpet that we'd gotten used in fourth or fifth grade. It's the kind of horn your parents get you when they're not sure if you'll still remember where it is in six months. But I knew. In ninth grade, I knew music was gonna be my life. And I wanted that horn so bad. It was a silver Getzen Eterna. I didn't know whether it was good or bad, but the book said it was a professional model, and it sure looked good in the picture. My mother assured me that $400 (or whatever it cost back then) was way out of our budget, and I knew it was. But I hoped.

Christmas morning, there it was. It was all by itself, of course, because it pretty much took up the Christmas budget. But it was there. When I told my wife the story, she said my mother didn't have much choice. It was my passion. But my question is this: how did my mother know? It could have been a phase. I could have sucked. She didn't HAVE to trust me at 14 years old that I knew where my life was going.

I'm glad she did. Merry Christmas mom.