Kindness and an Afternoon Violin Concert

"Happiness is a thing to be practiced, like the violin."
― John Lubbock

Thanks to the determination of a dear friend, my children and two of their friends spent part of the afternoon yesterday playing music for the residents of a nursing home.  My friend, the mother of the other two children, had been talking about doing this since last year.  With a soft spot in her heart for the elderly, she really wanted our children to put on a concert for them.  And so they did.

At first, the children were a little hesitant.  One of my daughters played a violin duet with one of the other girls.  Then my son played -- and played.  He played "Amazing Grace" and "Oh Susanna" and more than half the songs in his violin book.  Once he got started, he seemed to enjoy it.  At the end, the four violinists joined the clarinet player for a non-rehearsed rendition of "When the Saints Come Marching In."

The nursing home residents, all in wheelchairs, clapped.  One lady asked one of the girls to approach her and kissed her hand.  The assistants thanked us and said that they hoped we would return.

My friend's kindness got us to the nursing home.  The children's kindness and playing warmed the hearts of their audience.  My hope is that the children keep practicing -- the violin and kindness.