Maria called me in tears today...



Needless to say I was a bit concerned when I answered my cell phone only to hear my wife sobbing on the other end.

"He did it," she said

"Did what?"

"He made it!"

Then I understood.

You see, Tanner will be in sixth grade next year and has the opportunity to play in the middle school band. He thought he might like to play the saxophone like his friend up the street does. He also thought he might like percussion. However, the people at the school seemed to be actively trying to dissuade the kids from signing up for percussion as they always have way more kids that would like to bang on the drums than they can accomodate. Of the forty to fifty kids that sign up for percussion, about eight are chosen and the rest need to find another instrument to play. Last night, Maria took Tanner to a try out where they test the kids on aptitude for percussion. They have them clap out beats while tapping a different beat with their feet, etc.

Maria was a bit worried about how Tanner did because he got very nervous before his audition and she thought he was really tense during the first part of the audition. She said his nerves seemed to settle down a bit as the audition went on and his natural musical ability came out. We both thought it would be a really great boost of confidence for Tanner if he made it, but were worried that he didn't perform his best at the audition. Maria was actually up most of the night worrying about it, hoping he'd make it.

She got the call today from the instructor that he'd gotten in and that's when she called me sobbing. Tears of joy over her son getting to play the drums. How can you not love this woman?

"Are you actually crying about this?" Indeed she was.

We'll see if she remembers how happy she was today when TJ starts 'practicing' at home. ;o)

Congratulations Tanner!!! We're so proud of you.