Last night, Dan and I went to the Jon Schmidt concert with R & J and family (fun times!!) Jon Schmidt is a talented piano master who composes, improvises and entertains in humorous and sometimes nerdy ways. Quite delightful! He also had his cellist friend Steve Nelson with him---also quite talented and humorous. Overall a wonderful event and a good shot in the arm of happy, wholesome entertainment. However, one of the sweetest moments of the concert was rather unexpected.
Toward the end of the concert, the house lights came on and Jon invited a family who had a red sticker on their chair to the front of the theatre. This family was to win a free CD--woo woo! This family came up on stage ---a mom and five little children. The oldest looked maybe 9 and the youngest just turned one. There were 3 little girls wearing their Christmas dresses and the older boy was wearing a suit, and the baby boy was snoozing on his mom's shoulder despite the obvious commotion. Jon asked about the family and it turns out the father is away serving his 6 month duty as a part of the National Guard, he is to return in 5 days---just before Christmas. The little boy sang a tiny song that he sings to his dad on the phone about peace--very tender.
Next thing ya know, there on stage, their dad walked out in his military uniform reuniting with his family. The children embraced him and wept openly. It was an amazingly sweet and precious moment that we all watched spellbound and of course with tears running down our cheeks as well.
The mom took the microphone and said that while dad was away all 6 of them had had their birthdays, their wedding anniversary and the baby had learned to crawl, walk and celebrated his first birthday as well.
I am so glad they are reunited and I am thankful to live in this country! How blessed we are by the sacrifices of others!
Lest we forget...lest we forget the many who are serving for us this Holiday Season! Merry Christmas.
2 comments:
I have tears in my eyes just from reading of the experience. That whole side of life just breaks my heart, yet on the other hand, makes me so grateful for families who are willing to sacrifice in that way. We pray for our country and those serving it all the time!!
That is a sweet moment. How grateful I am to have Brian around during little times when I know our cousins have not had their dad (Brian) and Greg is in Japan. Merry Christmas to them indeed.
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