My paternal grandfather took a picture of my teenage parents sitting on the grass, Mom looking up at Dad adoringly, enthralled with his guitar playing. The hormone-driven look of teenagers in love. Somewhat sickening when it’s your parents, and guaranteed you have similar pictures or pictures you’ll use to torture your children.
[Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t find that picture, so a picture of infant Scott with his very, very young parents will have to do.]
Looking back, it’s more than that: Mom always appreciated – or was in awe of – musicians and seemingly always surrounded herself with them. Dad dreamed of the 1960s rock-and-roll life, and to this day plays karaoke guitar. My aunt earned a music scholarship to Northwestern – for singing?!? – played cello (or some other orchestral instrument), guitar, drums and toured for years with bands until becoming an elementary music teacher. My step-father was a very good guitar player who played throughout eastern Iowa. It was non-negotiable that her children played in school band: three percussionists, three trumpeters. Junior high and high school choir also required. Most of her children – not me – play guitar and have performed in bands, duos, or solo and most – again, not me – sing fairly well.
Mom supported us these artistic ventures: ensuring we had instruments, scrounging up money for band trips, attending innumerable school concerts and parades (elementary, junior high, high school), grandchildren dance recitals, going to gigs when her husband or children played, and probably more that I am not aware of. Mom twice came to Iowa City to see me play in the Hawkeye Marching Band. She was very proud of what her children achieved artistically.
Since college graduation, anything formal/semi-formal musically has disappeared. Mom was excited when I rented a marimba during COVID. I tried out and was the final cut when trying out on tenor drums with a senior drum corp, losing to someone whom marched with Madison Scouts the previous year. My wife is subjected to my dashboard drumming.
In 2023, I gave a talk at Devoxx UK entitled Demonolithing the Monolith? Bullocks! which I was really happy with and got good feedback on. I sent the link for Mom to watch, which she did: It sounds very interesting, though I have no idea what you’re talking about! Not that I expected her to, but she did watch it, even referencing one of the jokes (which she also didn’t understand).
That was the final time I performed for Mom.
