The End of an Era

For the past few years, we have traveled to Logan on Valentine’s Day weekend to attend Daniel’s jazz band performance at Elite Hall. This is the one that is first and foremost a community dance. It has been fun to hear the music and watch all the couples, who range in age from teenagers to elderly, dance with their sweethearts in traditional ballroom styles of dancing rather than the free-for-all-move-however-you-want kind of dancing that has been the style for decades now. There are elderly couples that we see every year, and honestly, I think it is so sweet that they still take the time to keep up their dancing skills in a society that doesn’t seem to value such pastimes much anymore. But for them, it is obviously an important and treasured part of their life stories. 

Anyway, as today is Valentine’s Day, last night found us in Logan once again. We took all the kids to dinner before scattering to our various locations. Daniel headed straight to the dance, Nathan headed to the university as he was interpreting for a theater department production of Shakespeare’s “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” and the rest of us headed to Daniel and Tawni’s apartment so she could take a quick shower before driving out to hear Daniel play. She came to dinner straight from work, and as her job necessarily involves a lot of dirt and hard work, she really wanted to freshen up a bit. Once she felt a bit more put together, we headed over to the dance. 

Daniel graduates this spring, so this was his last Elite Hall performance. And while he is so incredibly ready to be done with school, I think that he is really going to miss the jazz band portion of his educational journey. The music is a huge part of his life and one of his happy places, so as he sees the end coming, things are bittersweet. I hope that wherever he and Tawni end up, he can find somewhere to play. Playing alone at home is all good and fine, but it can’t really compare to the joy that comes from being a part of a group that works together to create something amazing. And the opportunity to perform for an audience comes with an adrenaline rush beyond compare. So, while I know Daniel will be stepping farther into the world that is adulthood, I hope that somewhere along the way he can find a way to continue to create the music he loves so much.