Practice Pays The Ticket

Christmas for my wife and I was put on the back burner this year until we got home after traveling to Colorado to see family and friends. Yes, we were among those that were impacted by the 2022 pre-Christmas storm, and we lost some time during the process.?

But I must say, in spite of some of the trash I read on the internet about the airlines, they worked their collective arses off to help those impacted overcome it. Stop the noise about it. Please. If you weren’t there, you don’t know.?

Anyway, today after work we finally got to exchange our gifts to each other. My wife of 28 years stunned me. Literally.?

After 28 Christmas’s together, she surprised me with this “practice guitar” - I didn’t see it coming. Had no clue. She knows my passions and sees that I put my biggest one on hold for so many years. And the box it came in said very boldly that this is indeed a “Practice Guitar”.

My guitar I grew up with was a gift from my dad when I was 12 years old. I am now 59, so I will continue to play this guitar too with gray pride and joy.

This one from my wife is not my dream Martin guitar. But that’s perfect. I haven’t earned it yet.?

She reminded me that practice pays the ticket.?

My dad and my mom adopted me. I was 10 when I entered the Olmstead home in 1974. I was separated from 4 siblings but gained 2 new ones at the time, and being a foster home I gained more along the way.?

That day I was lost, alone, and terrified. That night I was relieved and comforted after a long day of adjustments as that confused, scared, sad, and lonely child.?

The refuge they gave me at that time was so overwhelming to me that I asked them if I could call them Mom and Dad that night. They said yes. YES.?

I was used to no’s. All the time. When I was torn from my childhood home before that - I was angry. I always wished I could take whatever I could get whenever I felt I could get “something” - whether I deserved it or not. But my heart and soul told me otherwise. I just could not bring myself to actually behave in that way. This night I learned why. I was in the right place from day one.

That night I treasured my life for the first night in a long time. I wept at the loss of being with my siblings, but also at the joy of having a home I believed was mine. It had been a very long time that I had experienced that. And it was completely organic.?

THAT IS MY HEART. That is who and what I am. Organic. Natural. Real. No fake in my blood. What you see is what you get. My wife knows that.?

Anyway, so my Gracie got me this guitar and it moved me in a huge way. This post is preceded by tears. Tears of past sorrow and current gratitude.?

When my new dad asked me if I wanted that guitar it saved my life and set the tone for new discoveries I believe I was innately aware of, but unconscious to it. That changed over a relatively short period of time. Childhood talent does that.?

Another fact we adults need to recognize early on. I am thankful my new parents did just that. And supported it. But back to my Gracie’s gift to me.?

Gifts are not supposed to cost us. They are supposed to pay us - by lifting us up at such a level that the gift is always paid forward, IMHO.?

This one stopped me in my tracks and made me remember the most important gift of all - that which we are born with: The love of something. Whatever it is. Mine is music and the arts. Creative expression.?And fine cars, rad rides, and, well, anything with 2 or more wheels.

And love.?

It all ties together and drives us forward, not backward.?

I am stoked to get my music back on! And Babe - I do intend to “practice my arse off!”

Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Grace Olmstead.

And Mom - Dad - thank YOU for giving me a life.