Lovely Wednesday

My father, my brother and I attended my baby brother's winter concert tonight, he's fourteen. Recently it feels as thought the more social events I go to, the more I begin to hate them. Envious eyes spot you, fake smiles greet you and artificial questions break the uneasy silence that floods the room. People sat emotionless in the seats of the auditorium as their eyes scanned the stage for their child. Tonight marked his first high school concert and the difference from the middle school band was evident when the first note was played. Four beautiful songs later, the director blessed us with a much needed intermission. On the way back to my seat, I noticed my brother standing up straight, in front of the stage, behind a polished black music stand. A solo? Yes, a solo. With twice as many eyes on him as people in the room, he absorbed the energy and brought the music to life with his every breath of air, of soul, of love. His saxophone silenced the room until his last note gave way to a tsunami of claps. I stared at him hoping that if our eyes met, I could send him a short message saying “I love you.” The show carried on, lovely as before. Wanting to ask my father what he had thought of the solo, I turned to my left, only to find him scraping out the last tear which made its way to his upper lip. I squeezed his hand. As he squeezed mine back, he smiled, and then we faced forward to enjoy the rest of the show. After the concert, no words needed to be spoken as we walked to the car . We simply absorbed the love present within us, between us. A lovely Wednesday, no?