Best Concert

We are in the time of year I call concert-geddon. For kids, it is a time to celebrate their wonderful improvements. For teachers, it is a time to celebrate accomplished goals. For mothers, it is a time to find clothes, locate shoes, iron, and shovel food into kid's bellies at odd times.

Drake had an orchestra concert last week, and I sat in my chair proud that he was wearing the proper clothing.

Then surprising things started happening. Kids carrying pictures of animals began parading back and forth in front of the orchestra. Confused, I consulted the program and saw the title of the song was Carnival of the Animals. I sat taller and realized the parade consisted of kids with special needs, and they each held a picture of a different animal. Then I vaguely remembered Drake mentioning that kids who had special needs had been attending the orchestra practices, and they were all working together to put on this concert.

There were a couple kids who were in wheelchairs; there was one girl who walked exceedingly slow, and there was a girl behind her who was upset by the slow pace and kept yelling at the slow girl. Mostly, though, there were smiles and laughs and proud parents.

As the concert ended, the parade of kids with animal pictures marched down the aisle near me and out the back of the room. Parents are emotional people, so we stood to our feet and clapped loudly. Most of the parade had exited, but one girl remained. From my place near the back, I saw her bubbling excitement in her enormous smile and fidgety hands. She tried, but she just couldn't contain her enthusiasm. She spun around and flung her arms open to receive the applause. Her response was too much for us. We had to cheer and whistle and clap harder. She beamed. We clapped. When it all began to die down, I was able to hear her quiet voice say, "Thank you so much everybody," before she turned around and joined her friends.

Best. Concert. Ever.