Although we have always tried to make Jackson’s birthday something special, he has never been overly excited about his birthday – except for the blowing out of the candles (often before we have finished singing happy birthday). However, for some unknown reason, he was excited for his 17th birthday. Not only did he want a birthday party, but he asked for a Birthday Jam. He actually asked probably 80 times a day for about 30 days leading into his birthday.
He wanted a full band – the drums, keyboard, electric guitar, bass, vocalist, etc. However, he also wanted a Harpist. Since Jackson has never asked for anything (including a party), we were determined to make the event something special. Little did we know the seed we planted.
Following his birthday Harpist, Jackson was obsessed with learning to play the harp. We found a teacher and my wife located a harp. The music store instructed her to come by on Saturday to pick it up for rental. For the entire week every time Jackson would bring up the harp, we would reply that we are picking it up on Saturday. We even began to leverage it to our advantage. You better get in bed if you want to get your harp on Saturday.
Unfortunately, on Saturday when my wife and Jackson went to pick up the harp, there was a mix-up at the music store and they did not have any harps available. Needless to say, this ignited an autistic OCD storm. As my wife was dealing with the situation, she texted my oldest son and I informed us of the situation (which, needless to say immediately put us in pursuit of a harp). After they left the store my wife called us from the car. We mentioned that we found a harp, but it was in Walnut Creek. Jackson heard this and immediately said, “go to Walnut Creek”. Walnut Creek was about 110 miles away and the store was open for only another 2 ½ hours so what were we to do? We did the only thing we could do. We went to Walnut Creek and got Jackson his harp. Life was good again.
Husband, father, coffee connoisseur and lover of all things hockey. At 51 I sometimes wonder have I done enough. I have been married to my best friend for 30 years. She knows all my faults and loves me anyway, As a father of “almost always” perfect boys, I am always surprised at what life has to offer. It is messy, scary, thrilling, and always fun.
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