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A story from this weekend
Compared to many, I am quite new to playing old time music, but it's a style I have long enjoyed. This week, for five days, I attended a mountain man rendezvous near Ashton, Idaho. I took my banjo, guitar and mandolin along, anticipating playing some tunes with other folks around the evening campfire. On Friday and Saturday I sat down in trader's row by a friend's booth and played music while folks filtered by. On Saturday something very special happened, made possible by old time music, and an open back banjo and a picker with limited abilities, and I thought you might want to "see" the story, so here it is:
"Normally on weekends my wife and I play music at a living history museum, but I wasn't there at the museum this weekend, instead I was over by Ashton, Idaho attending the Fort Henry rendezvous. Saturday I was down on trader's row playing music by where the Makeys were located when a wonderful thing happened. As I sat there a family walked up, the dad pushing a young lady in a wheelchair. She obviously had special needs, and her dad said that she really had no interest in what was going on around her in the trader's area, but when she heard me playing she wanted to come listen. I played a few songs for her, which she seemed to enjoy, then the family continued on down the line. A short time passed, and they returned. The dad said that she wanted to come back and listen to one more before they left. I asked her if she wanted to hear a fast song, and that seemed to please her, so I switched to the key of G and played "Cindy" for all I was worth. She very much enjoyed that. The dad thanked me, and they turned to leave. I asked her if she would please take a picture with me, and the family said that would be great. I knelt beside her while her dad held the cell phones to take pictures. At first she was shy, and wouldn't look up. Her dad said to strum the banjo, and when I did the young lady raised her head and smiled, and pictures were taken. Once that was done, the family headed toward the exit. That beautiful girl never said a word to me...I honestly don't even know if she could speak...but without saying anything, she made my entire trip worth every second. The gift she gave to me I consider to be priceless as it was something no amount of money could possibly buy. I can only hope what I offered her was of equal value. So no, I was not at the museum this weekend, but there is no doubt in my mind that I was exactly where I was supposed to be, at exactly the time I was supposed to be there."
Author: Gene Bach
Posted: 6/12/2022 6:51 PM
Replies: 4
Last Reply: 1/11/2024 12:54 AM
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