I was having a brutal week. A brutal month. Honestly, a brutal year. Things had not gone the way I had hoped on so many levels, and this week in particular was rough. Two of my kids had the flu, I was not feeling great myself, and I was starting to lose control of my mood. Until tonight.
My Son on the Smith Center Stage
My son plays viola, and tonight his group performed at the Smith Center in Las Vegas with David Archuleta. Watching my boy share a stage with world class performers, becoming one himself right in front of me, was mind blowing. The theme of the night was Seasons, all about working through the difficult, inevitable changes and transitions of life. It wrecked me, in the very best way. I cried. A lot. Every part of it mattered.
I had bought my tickets late, so I gave the two second row seats to my parents, their first time traveling from Florida to see him perform, and I sat up in the nosebleeds on the fifth floor. The only seat left was in the handicapped section, next to a young woman who appeared to have cerebral palsy and used a motorized wheelchair. She danced and sang with what some might have dismissed as awkward sounds, but it was beautiful. She was so moved, so full of joy, and so was I.
Everybody Hurts, but Can Be Found
I just kept crying, moved by these bright, creative kids singing about God, the circle of life, and how everybody hurts but can be found. The night closed with The Living Years. Music is healing, and I am so proud of my kid. Jackson, you are a star. Your courage and your dedication humble and lift me every single time I watch you.
So get some music in your life, friends. Real music, the kind that finds the part of you that has gone numb and gently wakes it back up. It will heal you the way it keeps healing me. After what has been a genuinely hard season, I walked out of that theater different than I walked in. Once again, I am changed. The season turned, right there in a concert hall, and I never saw it coming.