Today was a difficult day. Not entirely awful, just one of those emtionally draining days. And these days happen sadly. But life would not be the same without the dark days to allow to recognize the ones that really shine. Even the dark days shine from within. Shine with a new perspective after climbing or contemplating a new mountain. 

As I was taking my students to take a bathroom and drink break, one of my dear friends was walking down the hallways, and I could see it in his eyes that something wasn't quite right. He immedietely talked to me about how he sat next to his dad at a musical gig for the first since his stroke. He looked at me with the saddest eyes and said, "Brianna. I cannot even begin to tell you the difference I see when my dad plays his instrument. I have been playing with him for the past twenty or more years of my life. And yesterday I realized that how he is playing now is how I expected him to play at age eighty five. And he kept asking me how he was doing. All I could say was...dad you're doing great." 

I dont know how I held it together by the water fountain. I barely did because I could see the tears forming in his eyes. And we just looked at eachother, I gave him a hug and we walked away. Because sometimes in moments like these, that is what we need. Some silence and some tears to ask ourselves, "How am I going to handle today with grace?" "How am I going to turn things around?"

For whatever reason, in this moment I was brought back to a moment in time I remember as a child. My dad was in the family room playing the accordian and his mother and father were visiting from New York. And I remember my grandmother looking so sad because (although the accordian is loud) she could not hear what he was playing during "Come back to Sorrento." In fact, it is possible I remember tears forming in her eyes as well. Just like those tears by the water fountain.

And sometimes there comes a time when we cannot hear the music it is that we are playing, or we realize we cannot play the way we used to. I have come to the conclusion that perhaps the music begins to naturally fade or sometimes even completely disappear for the individuals who will always have that music playing inside their heart. Truly, it does not matter what it sounds like to the ear of another because we all know the talent lies from within. And maybe for those of us who can hear, we are the ones with the lessons to learn. The people who cannot-well, it is possible they have already learned the lessons they need to. 

Because let's be honest. As long as we are playing music with heartfelt intentions, the man upstairs is going to say the same thing to us day in and day out, "Brianna...you're doing great."