Family Night at the Symphony

Last week our family continued a 48 year tradition. We went to the symphony together. My wife and I were there with our 6 children, their spouses, and all of our grandchildren (including our six month old granddaughter). In addition, my sister was there with her family. We all enjoyed this wonderful family tradition started by my parents 48 years ago.

My mother and father instilled in their children a love of the arts and culture of this world. They did so at great sacrifice. They did not drive the newest cars. We did not own a boat or a big cabin by a lake. Instead, we soaked in the culture, the arts, nature, and more. Mom and Dad built memories for their children to treasure for a life time.

We Started Young

I remember attending the LA Symphony in the Hollywood Bowl in Southern California. I think I was maybe 10 years old. Our whole family was there. We (along with all the major patrons of the bowl) ate our dinner, with candlelight, along the walks leading into the bowl.

I don’t remember all of the music, but I remember Zorro appearing at the top of the hill and riding his horse all the way down to the stage. I remember someone, it could have been Peter Pan or Tinkerbelle, flying through the air from the trees at the side of the bowl to the top of the bowl. I’m assuming Disney sponsored that children’s evening at the symphony. I just remember how exciting it was.

That began a long history of symphony, theater, museums, and more. I saw Zero Mostel play Rev Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. I saw Richard Burton, Julie Andrews, and Robert Goulet in Camelot. My parents started us very young.

As My Children Came Mom & Dad Continued the Tradition

We moved to another state, but Mom found the symphony performances for children. Our symphony called them the “Lollipop” concerts.She bought season tickets for four performances a year: the young performers (featuring youth soloists), the Halloween concert, the Christmas concert, and a concert featuring the story about a major composer.

Mom & Dad still buy season tickets. Our children now take their children. I observed, as a proud grandpa, as each of the children sat enthralled as the trolls romped on Bald Mountain, the storm troopers marched to John Williams, and the goblins galloped to the thundering sounds of Stravinsky and Prokofiev.

The six month old did not stir. She did not fuss or cry. She sat for 90 minutes glued to the sounds and sights before her. The 18 month old also sat transfixed at the bows, the trombones, and other strings and sounds. The 10, 7, 6, 4, and 3 year olds have grown up with the symphony. They look forward with delight to each concert. My adult children continue the tradition. Some of them attend the symphony. Others attend the ballet. Some the opera.

Share The Arts with Your Family

I’m so grateful to my Mom and Dad for establishing this tradition. They sacrificed to provide for us. We now sacrifice to provide the experience for our families. I encourage you to sacrifice for your family. Most community symphonies provide inexpensive (relatively) concerts for children. They recognize the need to develop artistic tastes in the upcoming generation or audiences will dwindle even more.

Cultivating an appreciation for the arts proves to increase intelligence, study habits, and grades as children grow older. Call your local arts council and find what offerings you can share with your family.

Join me in November when I share how we shaved $1,200 of our monthly grocery bill

Lessons Mom Taught Me

I thought I posted this blog on July 25. I found it among my drafts. Sorry it’s late.

My mother turned 82 this week. She formed a lot of my thinking and attitude. While my father taught by aphorism, Mom taught by experience. I learned the following lessons from her.

Choose Ye This Day Whom Ye Shall Serve

Mom chose to serve God at a young age. She taught her children to do the same. She never coerced, forced, or brainwashed us to believe. She firmly believed it had to be our choice. Then, she taught us how to make choices. She demonstrated that serving God included many choices after the first one. However, that first choice made all the others easier.

She helped us recognize the need for rules and order to keep society and families safe. Every time we went out she would remind us to obey rule “4, 7, 12, & 13”. We never knew what the numbers meant. We just knew they meant no drugs, no drinking, no smoking, no immorality, and no hurting others. Her final comment to us would seal the message “Be Good and Have Fun. You can do both. You just have to work harder at it”.

Build Great Memories

Mom taught me the power of memories over materials. She inspired us to do things. I sold light bulbs door-to-door to earn the money to tour Canada at age 15 on my way to the Boy Scout National Jamboree in Coeur d’ Lain, Idaho. Two years later my light bulbs got me to Japan for the World Jamboree where I hiked Mount Fuji in a typhoon.

She arranged twice for me to learn grace and charm through Ruddick's Cotillion and a private dance teacher. She took us to New Orleans for Mardi Gras when my father had a convention to attend. She and Dad stayed for the convention. We children flew home by ourselves when I, as the oldest, was 12. She sponsored a party at my house every year for 9 years on the night of the great cross-town rivalry football game. She invited our friends from both schools so that we would stay close and not let the rivalry ruin our friendships.

She gave me the idea for my first date on my 16th birthday. It was my date’s 16th birthday too. I’d loved her since we were 13. I will never forget the date, nor the day April 21, 1970. I picked Mara Lyn up around 3:30. Mom drove us (I didn’t have my license yet) to the Hollywood/Burbank Airport. We flew to San Diego, caught a taxi, that drove us over the bridge to Coronado Island. We dined at the Hotel del Coronado. No one else was in the restaurant. We walked on the beach at sunset. We flew back to Burbank and met our friends (including Mara Lyn’s boyfriend Ken) at Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor for a party.

Mom recently paid for all of her children and their spouses to tour the Holy Land. Dad joined us. Illness prevented Mom from travelling with us. We missed her. She gave us a great memory.I’ve built a lot of memories on my own since then. I’ve helped my children build great memories.

Serve to Your Fellow Being

Mom gave birth to four children. She wanted more, but medical problems prevented it. So, she and Dad fostered five other children: 2 Native American boys under 12, 2 disadvantaged teens, and 1 Japanese foreign exchange student. All them were loved and treated like family. We still keep in touch with some of them.

In addition, Mom quietly looked for people in need. She anonymously gave them money to buy clothing, food, and other necessities of life. We only found out about it later in life. She donated to our Church, the community, and others. She encouraged her children to volunteer for an international non-government organization in England, Chile, Australia, and Brazil.

Mom taught me so many more ideals, values, and responsibilities. She taught us to get all the education we could. She went for a graduate degree in her 50’s. All of her children graduated from college. Two of us have graduate degrees. She taught us to travel as she traveled. She taught us to work and work hard. She hosted her own cooking show on television in the 50’s. She taught me the equality of the sexes and races before civil rights. She gave me such great experiences and lessons.

Thanks mom. I love you. I appreciate all you taught me. Thanks for the memories.