Chicken Soup for the Mortal Soul
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May. 19, 2008
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Blurgh
Suddenly, my mind went blank. I realized with horror that I could not remember the note. The music stopped. Jake put his head in his hands...
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Before I start this post, I need to give you some background. My Grandma is in charge of a small group of women who fight against alcohol and smoking. They call themselves the WCTU (Women's Christian Temperance Union).
Every year they hold an annual poster/essay contest, where children still in grade school have a chance to draw a poster or write an essay about the dangers of drinking and smoking. I competed in the contest, and won first place for what they call local. Then, they send me on to state, and so forth.
But anyways, you get prize money and a certificate if you win. The only catch is that you have to attend the award ceremony, which is held at a certain church, to get the award.
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Since my Grandma is in charge, she normally likes either me or Emily to play a special (piano piece) for the older people there.
But this week, Emily wasn't ready to play a piano piece. So... she asked me to play one.
More background...
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My Grandparents (on Mom's side) are having their 50th anniversary, and I am playing Grandpa's favorite song for it.
Since he wasn't able to attend the WCTU award ceremony, I decided that I would play that solo in front of everybody. That way, I could get some practice in front of people.
Being the fool that I am, I thought that I should play the song without the music in front of me, since I had 'memorized' the song.
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I got up on the stage, and played the song through perfectly the first time. I started the second time. Halfway through the song, my mind drew a blank. I couldn't think what the next note was. I knew that I had to remain calm, even though my stomach was doing the waltz. So, I stopped, apologized, said I had lost my note, and that I would restart from the second verse.
My pulse throbbing, my stomach doing the Tarantella, I started playing again. I got halfway through, when suddenly my mind went blank. I realized with horror I could not remember the note. My stomach at this time was doing triple backflips. My brother Jake put his head in his hands.
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I turned, and apologized, saying something about how I just could not remember the rest of the song. Everyone applauded, probably out of pity. My stomach by this point was descriptively making the sound that the title of this post so descriptively states.
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When I got to my Grandma's house after the incident, I remembered my Mom telling me 'Nick, one day, you will be humbled with the piano.' I had always thought I was better than my sister, that I was better than anyone, that I was the best. I'm glad to admit that I was wrong. But it didn't stop there. God had humbled me in other ways. I remember just that afternoon, I had mistakenly slipped the words 'I would be the best...'
God helped me with my pride. He hurt it to help me. I learned alot through that embarassing mis-hap.
But also, he taught me another important lesson. You're never too good for backup. Always bring the piano book. I have always been a fool about that, getting too big for my books. I'm just really glad that God allowed me to mess up in front of fifty people that I'm never gonna see again, compared to 50 relatives attending my Grandpa's 50th anniversary.
So, that's what happened yesterday. That and I got to world five on Mario 3... but that's another story. :-)
~Nick
© Copyright 2008 by Nicholas Joel. |
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"Yes, life is tough, and suffering builds character. Nothing worth having ever comes easy. Virtue is its own reward. And when I was your age..."
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• May. 19, 2008 - Untitled Comment
I have not had that much time on the computer lately.
I will send you one ASAP.
Your friend,
Beav