One event at a time, with the spirit of humbleness

I have been terrible at keeping up with our blog entries. One big excuse is that I have been in school while continuing to work. Another big excuse is that Erik keeps us busy with his school events such as  quiz bowl tournament or other events that takes us out of town on the weekend. The school and my paper drove me like a slave driver this spring. Each week, I felt as though something or someone chased me. You can add the deadlines of April 15th for the federal tax filing, re-registering your high schooler for the next fall by march whatever (if we were late the registration fee jumps from 50 to $250)  and other routine things that every family encounters. I must admit, some weeks were stressful and all I could do was to look up and  take a deep breath and then sit back down.

So here I am sitting down at the beginning of my summer semester.... . We had a wonderful break this past week. I actually did not have anything due last week. But Erik had a heavy research paper that he had a difficulty smoothing out. Erik was also practicing a lot everyday getting ready for a very enjoyable event, the Red River Radio Young Artists Winners' Recital. This is the second time that he entered this competition and he made the finalists again. He had a great time and he performed absolutely beautifully. He even met a new friend, another young pianists whom we believe may remain a close friend to Erik for a long time.

The Red River Radio Host always asks the performer some ad lib questions and Erik always struggles answering those. He did not provide the most articulate or intelligent replies but we know that it was the very best he tried on impromptu. He told me the following day that, Mom, I just can not do the impromptu... it just does not come to me. He was brave to get up there on the stage and try his best to explain about the music he was performing. When the radio broadcast is made available we will link to here. The winners' recital is actually also a time for live radio recording to be broadcasted at a later date. 

As proud and excited as we should be as parents, seeing Erik enjoy such special honor and unique opportunities in his young years with such grace humbles us. The walk with him in his journey only reminds us of this virtue. Of course, there is absolutely nothing wrong with being confident, proud, to demonstrate the ability or to give the student or the child who works hard the credit he deserve. 

I watched Erik perform wowing everyone (we could feel it) and he was delighted to hear the applause. After the event, various people who were in the audience stopped to speak with Erik, congratulating him for his beautiful and touching performance. Of course, many came to give us their kind words. Another young man, who also performed a piano piece was also such a friendly person and approached Erik to congratulate him. The young boy, age 14 was very gifted with his ability to express such deep emotions through his music and it was quite outstanding. I was struck by his level of maturity at his age. We enjoyed meeting his parents and we promised to get together over the summer. 

As folks sent accolades to Erik's way, he was polite and he was also very very humble in his spirit. I think that was the most impressive part of the entire afternoon when I watched Erik carry himself with such gentle spirit responding to strangers' greetings. A mother of a young lady who delivered a beautiful vocal performance came to me after the event and looked right in my eyes while shaking her head in more of an amazement type gesture and said, " Erik is an amazing pianists at such a young age,,he played such a difficult piece and he is so humble...he is a precious boy". For a stranger who met him for the first time to remember him as a humble young man,,,,, warmed my heart,,, then when I considered the big picture, her words took my breath away. That is my son, the spirit of humbleness is the greatest gift he is given. 

Today, local paper sent him a special gift,, well, for this humble young man who is always rather quiet and never really shared much about what he is up to with his friends or school mates (well stuttering and the other speech issues do come into play) and not quite articulate, the article in the paper made him sound quite articulate. This is the link to the article, however, only a portion is available for those who are not subscribers..... I do have the article scanned, if anyone is interested....maybe I will find a way to put some kind of link to a document.....yeh, google document perhaps......

To share the events and few more photos from this past year, I made a slide show and used Erik's performance from the Winners' recital as a background music.

This month back in 2003, I was preparing to receive my last chemotherapy. May is Erik's birthday month and I prayed so much that I would get to see him turn 15. He is about to turn 16 at the end of this month. What a blessing that I have been able to see him turn 15,,, and now 16!!!! The friends and family's smiles who supported us during the darker days in 2003 all returned to me. Some are not with us on this earth any longer and many live far away from us. I am again, grateful for all who gave our Erik the best of the days by extending special child care while I tackled my illness and pressed on. The tender and humble spirit he carries today, seems to always takes me back to those days when he would utter the kindest encouragements although his understanding of the situation was rather limited. He does, still remember going to all of his friends homes all year around.

As I reflect upon this past year's journey as a family, I am counting the blessing,,, we are truly blessed beyond measure with blessings that take many shapes including the humble spirit which is embedded in the beautiful performances that Erik delivers, or the joy and warmth the music spreads,,one event at a time.......