14 | December | 2009 | A Little Thinking

-singing Christmas songs
-singing Christmas songs in a nursing home
-singing “Go Tell It on the Mountain” all the way through for the very first time, then twice more
-seeing those kind folks in the nursing home smile, which made me smile, and often almost made me cry
-the roving keyboard which accompanied our caroling
-that 10 of us showed up, and we sounded pretty good
-singing for at least an hour
-seeing the entire range of generations, from within the choir, as well as in each of the rooms we stopped by
-hearing stories of how music reached these people in unexplainable, beyond-comprehension ways
-getting to see Mr. Coleman again, the man who inspired this post
-talking to Mr. Coleman about the good ol’ days, when he sent Laura and me to the bathroom to practice for All-State auditions
-talking to Mr. Coleman about the good ol’ days, the sorry excuse for a bandroom, the clarinet solo, Mr. Buddy Ball
-talking to Mr. Coleman about life plans
-talking to Mr. Coleman about New York City; and Utah
-listening to Mr. Coleman talk about his family
-talking to Mr. Coleman about the difference between Middleburg Mormons and Mormons in other areas outside of Jacksonville
-feeling my heart swell when Mr. Coleman said he used the examples he saw in Middleburg Mormons for some of his sermons
-listening to Mr. Coleman, a legend in his own right, talk about still finding moments of being mentored by people he gets to work with
-meeting Mrs. Coleman and thanking her for loaning her husband to Wilkinson Jr. High some 20 years ago to change young lives for ultimate good
-seeing how undeniably in love Mr. and Mrs. Coleman are
-trying not to be uncomfortable when Mr. Coleman listed qualities about me and expressed his hopes for me and my life
-trying also not to cry in the middle of (the original) Bono’s Barbecue (on the Southside) as he did this with pure sincerity and looked upon me fondly
-hugs
-driving home with my heart having grown three sizes and feeling all warm and fuzzy