Comfrey of Bliss

I was determined to get myself over to church this morning, in spite of a night of poor sleep. It was Senior Sermon Sunday, which is where the graduating seniors get to give the sermon and talk about their plans and what the church has meant to them, now that they're growing up and moving on. The only senior on deck today was our own curly haired Miss Z, who has been playing the violin next to me for a couple of years now. In her honor, we played a lot of Harry Potter music, though not as much as we would have if we'd had our own very versatile pianist. She couldn't come, because her one year old was throwing up, so we had the choir director filling in. She's quite good as an accompanist, but not quite as good as the usual one. So Double Trouble didn't work out, and we had to play the second part of the Hogwarts March a capella. It was fun. Miss Z sat with us until it was sermon time. She was quite nervous. I told her that everyone there would be looking at her with Mom Eyes, meaning that no matter what she said, they'd only be thinking "She's so intelligent! So beautiful! We adore her!" She said if she had to throw up, she'd give us a high sign first.

She thanked many people, especially people in the music department, which is what I expected. But I didn't expect her to mention me first! She said that I was the person who was always there sitting next to her when she first started to play, and that I was her "first friend." Awww! I was so touched. How kind of her. I didn't really do anything special. I made a few jokes, lent her my pencil, and tried to help her get comfortable with our rather ad hoc way of jumping into new music on a wing and prayer and adjusting the arrangements on the fly. I'm glad it helped. It's not just Mom Eyes when I say that this young woman is incredibly talented. She plays better than I do! It really seems that whatever she decides to learn, she is able to just pick up and do it. I predict that she will do well in college and be outstanding wherever she goes. And it's not just because she said something nice about me. ; )

It was a beautiful day, and we went for a walk later. The Sparrowhawk took his cameras along, to get some practice in before a photography workshop he's taking later this month. I spoke with my mother, and it's lucky I did, because she had forgotten that I told her we were coming to have dinner with her for Mother's Day. She thought we weren't coming. I hope she'll remember this until tomorrow, when she has to turn in her reservation request.