Watched a proud mama

Today I was able to go see a young band director take his band to a contest. Don’t quit reading…it’s not about music again! Without getting too technical, I will say that his band received the highest marks possible and they were well deserved. The kids were focused, played well, and remembered all those things the director had told them 100 times. I completely enjoyed the performance and was proud of my young friend.
His mom was in the audience today. She listened to his kids play on stage and then followed them into the sight reading room. Again, I’ll need to give some background for those readers who don’t speak “music educator”. The kids and director are given a piece of music appropriate to their skill level (based on size of school and other factors) and the director has a few minutes to explain this piece that they have never seen. The students then play the piece one time for a panel of judges who then give them a score. No, they don’t get a “practice”. One chance and done. During the short amount of time the director is given to explain the piece there is a ton of vocabulary used that, if you aren’t a musician, might as well be Swahili (unless, of course, you speak Swahili)….very, very quickly spoken Swahili. My friend’s mom watched him with wide eyes give these instructions to riveted 12 and 13 year olds. Afterward, she told me that she was amazed at how he instructed the children and how proud she was of how well they were taught. She didn’t really just say it, she beamed it.
I think that at the end of the day, a year, or a life all we really want to do is make our mamas proud, or dads, or both. We long for that day when we can show them that they did a good job and made a good person and a successful person. That we are something or do something that makes a difference. Today I saw that in that mama’s eyes. It was glistening and unmistakable. I know that mine was proud of me. I miss that look, though. He’s a lucky kid.