Tonight.. I had a wonderful experience. Made me wonder if it was ‘meant to be’. The ‘why’ of it, I’ll never know. But the connectedness of the whole thing is just wierd. A few days ago, for some reason I thought of the Clarridge kids and I wondered how they were doing. Just a passing thought. No big deal.
Tonight, Diane gets off the bus and excited tells me about a band who stopped by her school and did a performance for them. She was very impressed with their fiddling and cello skill. “They are called ‘The Bee Eaters” mom and I really want to see them tonight. They are giving a show at school for everyone. I ho’d and I hum’d around and really was trying to think of a way to NOT go because we really can’t afford it.
But, I also want my kid to be as amazed and touched by music as much as I have been in my life. It’s something we can share. So, Clyde & I talked and we decided that I would take her to her show. She got all gussied up too cause the boy who asked her out for the date might just be there. LOL
We got there, and I listened…and I admit I couldn’t stop from tapping my toes and keeping time with the music. It’s just who I am. It dawned on me that the ‘brother & sister’ playing in front of me looked totally familiar to me. Soon, I asked myself, are they the Clarridge kids?? NO WAY!!!!! And I let the thought go….
Diane wanted a CD. I counted my remaining money to make sure I had enough, and I told her to pick out one. She brought back “her” CD to show it to me, and I started reading the sleeve… and there on the sleeve where the names Tashina Clarridge, and Tristan Clarridge. I had been right, it was the Clarridge Kids….
The Clarridges met me, but there was no reason for them to remember me. I was the ‘lady’ who entered their scores in the ‘computer room’ after their performance at the Old Time Fiddle Contest in Cloverdale, California. During my breaks, and after my job was done, I’d go and listen to them and others jam. This was probably a time that was during the apex of my careers—volunteer and paid… the two loves of my life came together here– I love history, and The Old Time Fiddle Contest was sponsered by the Cloverdale Historical Society of which I was a member, a docent, and I sat on the board. Very active…. I loved music, and I loved mixing music and history.
Other members would come by to keep me company and help me to do my job back in the ‘computer room’. We could hear the music very clearly back where we were. And we would sit in total amazement when these kids played. We talked about how far in life they might go with their musical skills.
Tonight, I came home and pulled out the 2002 program from the fiddle contest. I have a stack of them because I was the lay out artist on the program. I showed my daughter their names, and mine in the program.
I went to my stack of CD’s, and pulled out their CD “My Lily” from the year 2000. And showed it to my daughter. I looked at her and said that I had to move to Oregon to see what they have become as adults. The world became an incredibly small place tonight. And she looked at me and said, “Look mom, he had long hair back then too!!” LOL– It was a good night!!!
www.beeeaters.com
