Of That Which Brings Us Joy

It's so interesting what brings people joy. For my neighbors it's their dogs. They don't have actual children, so their dogs are their babies. For the people across the street it's their garden. It's stunning. For me (other than my family), it's my writing. An outlet for me to laugh at my crazy life. For my husband it's watching the Texas Longhorns play football or his fantasy football league. Not really sure what to say about that. And for my mom, it's her band. She plays the clarinet in a band. It's totally hysterical. At least it was at first. Now, I'm really proud of her. She absolutely loves it. She's played in two free concerts in the park. We've been to both. I guess you could say we're kind of groupies. My kids get to dance in front of dozens of people who are well into their 80's. It brings Piper joy because she thinks she is the star of the show. It brings Brooksie joy because he gets to eat an entire box of popcorn. It brings me joy because I know how much it means to my mom to have us there. To support her doing something she really loves. She started crying the first time we saw her play. She told me it's not very often a grandmother could do what she got to do that night. It was very touching. I'm so glad she's found something that brings her such joy. Who would've thought in a million years it would be playing the clarinet in a band. But that's not the point. The point is, she loves it. And you can tell. The announcer said tonight their band is one of the oldest, if not the oldest remaining industrial bands in the country. I have no idea what that means, the industrial part anyway. But it made me proud. It made me proud to see my mom apart of such amazing history. They play a lot of marching band songs, patriotic songs.. songs that are a rich part of our country. Many 'older' people come up after the show and tell me how much fun they have watching my kids. My kids bring them joy. Wow. One lady said she appreciated me taking my kids to the concert so they're exposed to this kind of music. That made me feel good. I never thought watching my mom play the clarinet in a band could bring me joy too. But it does. Sometimes joy comes in ways and in places you least expect. But the important thing is to find your joy. Even if it's playing the clarinet in a band.