Brilliant … But Bouncy

I Really Think It’s a Gift From God.

In our household, in spite of my best efforts to the contrary, Shane has a tendency to be … overlooked.

Shane is brilliant, funny, creative and incredibly sweet. But his laid-back demeanor means that he also flies easily under the radar. Sometimes this means that he gets away with things he shouldn’t. But because Shane is a very serious rule-follower, it mostly means that even his most amazing accomplishments can go unnoticed.

So when Shane’s youth music teacher at church asked to meet with me, I was quite surprised. Shane had been in the church group for two years, singing and playing drums and ukulele. And until now, I’d never heard of anyone being called in by the teacher.

What on Earth did he do, to warrant a meeting with the parents?

Miss Margaret came to the meeting with note cards, and an obviously prepared speech. Having been through many, many teacher meetings, I recognized that she was prepared for some sort of battle.

Shane and I sat quietly across the table. She started very slowly, looking at her note cards.

“The kids have been writing music,” she said. “I asked the group to just sort of sit and strum their ukuleles and see what they could come up with. And every week, one student performs a song he or she wrote. You know, it’s usually something like, I like pizza; I like Oreos…. And they strum along. Then last week, I don’t know if Shane told you …”

“No,” I inserted. I glanced at Shane, who hadn’t told me anything, ever, about any week.

He was stoic.

“Well, Shane performed his song for us.” She smiled at him across the table. “And I must tell you, all three of the teachers – our jaws were just … on the ground. His song was incredible. He used his ukulele as a drum for the first part, and did kind of a rap. And then he turned it over and started strumming when the melody changed. And the lyrics were just … beautiful.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. And then tears came to my eyes. Shane is a great songwriter, I thought.

“Oh, that’s wonderful!” I squealed. “He does write some very nice songs!”

But there was more.

“I’ve been teaching music for 30 years,” Miss Margaret said. “And for his age, what he has accomplished is really quite incredible.” She stopped, searching me, still somewhat ready for battle. “I’ve heard a lot of children write songs, but with Shane…” She paused again. “I really think it’s a gift from God.”

She was allowed to say that, since we were in church.

Ah, I realized. She wants us to nurture this gift. And she’s afraid we won’t!

“So what can we do to nurture this gift?” I asked. Finally, the teacher relaxed. She had a plan – several people she wanted to contact, so that Shane could get his music written down on staff paper. As a graduate of one of the most prestigious music colleges in the country, Miss Margaret knows a lot of people.

She outlined her plan, and I cried a little more. I had heard plenty of Shane’s songs. And I’d clapped, and hugged him, and then pretty much ignored them.

“He’s been writing songs since he was a toddler,” I told her. “I had no idea that his talent was unusual. I thought it was just … Shane.”

“It is unusual,” she assured me.

And then we went to work on our plan – for nurturing Shane’s gift, and for finally giving Shane the recognition he deserves.