December 26, 2016
Well, I think that this is going to be the event that caps 2016 for me. We were invited to my cousin’s house for a Christmas meal. Traditionally we arrive there, eat like crazy, have a few glasses of wine or beer (sometimes both… lol), have a nice conversation and then head back out for home.
This year marked several differences. First, my father was not there, and inside I found this very sad. I still miss him so much… every second of every day.
The next thing was that I did not come empty handed. This time I walked in with my FR-8x accordion. As soon as I did, I saw my uncle’s eyes light up and he just was happy to see me with it. He knows how long it’s been since I played, and he himself was one of the people that influenced me in my days as a small child to like the accordion because he himself used to play.
Today, he has a wonderful little collection of accordions but so rarely plays anymore. I may have to visit him a bit more often and give those accordions a little work-out now and then! 🙂
Anyways, we ate, drank and laughed like it was the end of the world and I am convinced that the whole atmosphere was just a bit lighter than what it would have been had I not carried in my bundle. Right after supper, feeling so full that I could barely breathe, I was called down from the dining room to the living room and my uncle had already set up a chair smack in the middle of the room and had pulled out my music stand! I finished setting it up quickly, pulled out the 8x and started off with several Christmas pieces. Well my uncle was having none of that and started asking for Polkas, Waltzes and Tangos… and I obliged.
I was playing for maybe 2 hours when I realized that my shirt was all sweaty… that beer heated me up more than I realized! We were all happy and just moved to conversations as I packed things away, joined in on the jokes and conversations and drank my last beer of the evening. Two hours later, we were spent and it was time to go home.
Nice memories of the evening… the wide eyes of my cousin’s brother-in-law, who was just trying to figure out where the drum and saxophone sounds were coming out of, and his disbelief when I told him I was making the music, and the accordion was making the sounds and whether it was me really playing or if it was all a recording!
I think his disbelief started when I told my uncle to put on the accordion, placed it in demo mode and then he faked playing while the brother-in-law looked on all amazed at how well my uncle “played”. We all laughed when my uncle turned around, raised his hands and the music just continued… haha!
The big memories… the wide smile on my uncle’s face as he sang along with every song I played and the smile on my mother’s face as a little tear rolled down when I played her favorite piece.
Of course I cannot tell the future, but I feel that 2017 will be such a wonderful year for me on many levels, including musically thanks to this new accordion of mine!
Enjoy!