An Unexpected Delight in the Middle of an Ordinary Week

Seth, our almost-8-year-old, came home from school with a nice note saying he had been chosen by his teacher to receive a Principal's Prize Award, and to invite us to the awards assembly. I was happy to come, and even managed to get Jeff there (one of the perks to being a small business owner). We were proud of Seth - he received an award for Courage, the Character Trait being emphasized this month at the school. If I had to choose, I would rather my children be recognized for positive character traits than academic achievement.

After the awards, which took all of 10 minutes to distrubute, we wondered why the assembly was slated to be 45 minutes long. Jeff noticed a grand piano piano set up in the front of the gym and commented on the virtual impossibility that a public elementary school actually owned that piano. To our delight, the guest for the assembly was a young man named Stephen Beus, who had won 1st place at the Gina Bachauer Piano Competition in 2006. I knew this was a prestigious international competition - had even been to hear a contestant or two several years ago -but had no idea the treat we were in for. As he played that $100,000 Steinway (he had the children guess how much it was worth - the hightest amount they guessed was $5000), I felt like I had been transported to another world. His mastery of the piano along with the energy and emotion he put into his playing loved me to tears. I came to the assembly expecting a single, beautiful flower and instead received a magificent flower garden. It refreshed and uplifted my spirit.

When we got home we researchd more about Stephen Beus, who is known internationally, has toured extensively, and, to his credit, took off two years to serve a mission in Finland. Here is a link from a performance if you're interested.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iacagVTYYOY