Violin

The boy picked up the instrument out of the case. It was a bright wooden color. The instrument was beautiful. He plucked the strings and felt giddy. This little instrument could make music. He could play it and learn some of the greatest songs ever.

Music made everything so much better. If you stripped the music from the greatest movie scenes what did you have? Surely a less than epic scene.

The boy grabbed the bow and played a note. He smiled big and bright. And from then on the violin became a part of his life. He played it all through middle school and high school. For 7 years he was a musician. For 7 years he learned to play songs from the theme from Titanic, the Pirates of the Caribbean, A Whole New World, Colors of the Wind, Eine Kleine, Canon in D, and many many more.

For the holidays he played classics like Rudolph, Santa Claus is Comin' to town and more.

When he was overwhelmed he could turn to his violin and let it all out. He could play and create music suddenly releasing all his problems and making them go away, at least for a while.

When he was sad he could play a totally slow and sad version of Ode to Joy that brought tears to his eyes (oh the irony).

The violin was a safe haven for him. The violin was like his friend. Something that made him feel like he could accomplish anything.

But when college started he knew it was time to say goodbye to that part of his life. He couldn't continue on with it. And so he gave his violin to his little sister. So she could begin that part of her life.

Some people pass a torch. He passed a violin. And on random days when she brought it home (such as today), he could hold it again and play it once more. And he knew that it was never truly goodbye. It was just a "see you later" to his violin.