A friend gave my children the best gifts ever. Her presents had one requirement from the fortunate recipients — their passion. Both presents were unexpected, and the outcome has been, too.
Her first gift came during a rare lunch together. We live in different cities, and I had traveled to attend a meeting near her home. We met for a quick bite and caught up on life, which, inevitably, led to our children. Her two sons were grown and doing well. Her oldest was working on his graduate degree, yet still nurturing his love of music. I remember when he was younger and our families went to a Pat Metheny concert. I enjoyed watching her son, eyes wide toward the stage, as much as the famous jazz guitarist.
Her son is now a successful college educator who has become a proficient guitarist who married a talented musician he met in college.
As I got up to leave from lunch, my friend handed me a card for my son, Griffin, who had recently turned 16. We didn’t normally exchange gifts for our children, but this one was sentimental. Sixteen years prior, she drove a very pregnant me in premature labor from a meeting to a hospital 40 miles away.
Griffin opened his card that night after my lunch. “Oh wow. Mom, look at this.” It was a very generous check. My friend and her husband wrote a note of what music had meant to their son. They knew Griffin had a guitar and asked only one thing of him: use their check toward guitar lessons.
He did.
We met with our friends for lunch a year later. Grif played his guitar as we stood on the sidewalk outside the restaurant. It is one of those tender moments that will forever be locked in time for me.
Fast forward two years later. My daughter, Gillian, was turning 16. We were heading to an out-of-town high school volleyball tournament before her birthday. Before we left, a box addressed to Gilly arrived in the mail. She found a card inside from my friend and her husband along with a professional-grade digital camera.
My friend’s husband discovered photography in his 50s. He has photographed his life, especially his international travels, in spectacular visual art. Like their gift to Griffin, this kind couple asked only one thing of Gilly in return: explore what the camera can do.
And boy has she. Well, actually, I did first.
I quickly learned the beauty of fast shutter speed to capture Gilly and her team winning their first high school state championship. And Gilly has used her lens to focus on extraordinary moments and people ever since, creating a blog photographing other epileptics who are thriving in spite of their condition.
Griffin is a college junior now. I’m a bit biased, but he is one terrific guitarist. He is also a fan of all kinds of music, taking courses about musicians such as Django Reinhardt and John Coltrane.
Gilly just returned from a Mexican college study abroad, chronicling her trip with gorgeous photos added to her blog.
My children’s lives have been enriched because someone made it possible for them to tap into the wellspring of passion. And this passion was fostered during a time when I could barely afford paying for groceries, let alone a music lesson or nice camera. Not that my friend knew this.
Nor could she imagine the emotional power of a jazz chordal progression heard from a nearby room or an inspirational blog written in Mexico.
Thank you, my friend.