First Chair

Dillan started taking violin lessons when he was seven years old, which I was supposed to be a participant in his practices.  If you have read "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother" that's me but dialed down about 90%.  He's enjoyed playing the violin, even after he stopped taking lessons and has been performing with the middle school's orchestra.  I can't tell if he's in the orchestra because he enjoys the violin or if he enjoys the ratio of girls to boys in the orchestra.  There is definitely a social aspect of it that he likes. 

So the District Honors Orchestra was coming up and Dillan told me that he was going to be first chair.  I said "That's great" and then probably asked him if his homework was done or if he had any chores left to do.  My parents were visiting so Kevin and I could go on a romantic weekend getaway (really, they came down to see Wicked, but I took advantage of them while they were here.  AND it really WAS a romantic getaway, not an endurance event like a Grand Canyon rim to rim to rim hike!) so I took them with me to the performance.  As always, one of the directors gives a speech that we are not at a sporting event and that there will not be any hooping or hollering for the performances, and that we are all to act in a dignified manner.  Who do they think comes to these things?  Crazed mothers?  So, when it was time for the middle school orchestra to get the seats on the stage, I was looking for Dillan, who, let's face it, is not hard to miss.  I could not see him.  I thought, maybe he's in the back, but even then I would be able to see his head poking up.  There was only the empty chair in the front saved for the first chair violinist.  Well, you can imagine my overjoy when my boy walked on stage as the FIRST CHAIR VIOLINIST!!!!  The emotion overtook me.  I hooped so loud that my mom grabbed my arm and said "You are NOT at a football game!"  That's my baby!  I have held back at many of his performances where I knew what he was going to do, but this I did not know about and was pure joy!  He got a solo part in one of the pieces that he played.  The only thing that made me sad was that his violin teacher, who had a daughter in the high school orchestra, was not able to be there.  She is the reason why he loves the violin so much and is such an excellent player.  It gave me hope that I may be able to get Blake to that point one day. 

Kevin to the Rescue

This is a common theme with Kevin.  When we lived in Utah, he would carry a tow chain in the truck during the winter in the hopes that he could rescue someone stuck in the snow.  So this evening, he and I went to Costco in preparation for my parents coming to town, when we pulled into our parking spot and there was a two year old boy on the top of a roof of a car, just enough out of reach from his very short and very pregnant mom trying to wrangle him off the roof.  There was a woman "helping", but she was on her cell phone and talking to someone and trying to reach for the boy, who was out of her reach as well.  Kevin walked over, and fortunately the ladies had the boy facing them, and Kevin took the boy off guard and just lifted him on the roof and put him in his car seat.  He was touted as a hero through all of Costco.  Little did they know that this is second nature to him.  One of the many reasons I love him.  That and he writes the best love poems.