I told someone recently that I am going into a “music phase.” Coincidentally, my son bought me an antique, round back mandolin. I am just learning to play it, but he is a quick study. Today, when he and his family visited me, he picked up the mandolin and with just a few chord charts in front of him, he quickly learned enough chords so that, in no time flat, we were both singing, he was playing mandolin, and I was playing guitar.
For music, we chose some “old faithfuls” that do not have a lot of chord changes: “You Are My Sunshine,” “Take Me Home Country Roads,” and “This Land is Your Land.” I like the sound of the mandolin. It really fills out the folksy sound.
Life is funny. I had one parent who was musically inclined, and we tried to blend our music together, from time to time, although the Clarinet and the Saxophone pretty much drowned out the sound of my voice and my guitar. I was lucky to have had a brother who loved to sing and had a great (deep) voice. We would often sing together whenever we could, again, with me playing the guitar.
Fact of the matter is, I am not a terrific guitar player or even a trained one. I know enough chords, and enough of the basics of music to get by, and to just have a good time.
The music today was both a point of connection and a source of joy for my son and I. He and I both hope to “jam” again, sometime soon.
What surprises me most, although it is not surprising at all, is how much children absorb from the example set by their parents. I was strongly influenced by my own father, and I can see so many of my son’s interests and talents as having been my own passions, including love of language, enjoying being a teacher, wanting to live in an “antique” house, and really liking and appreciating material objects that are “pieces of the past.”
Right now, another folk song is brought to mind: “Teach Your Children Well.” We owe it to our children to bring them up with core values so that they will respect all living things, people, plants, and animals.
Tonight, I am feeling successful. I feel that I have provided a legacy for my only son, one that he can pass to his (recently born) son, and one that is a continuation of the values that my parents gave to me.
Love is forever.
Patricia
