Happy Anniversary, Music Man

Bob and I just recently celebrated our 28th wedding anniversary and so I've been thinking a lot about how blessed I am that this New Yorker, after graduating from Syracuse University, found his way to little ol' Salisbury, NC to eventually become my husband.

Not that we were each other's first love...

I think I've mentioned before that Bob has a first love that is still very much a part of his life - his saxophone. He loved her long before he ever loved me. She was with him all through high school and college, but then spent the next fifty years in a storage room downstairs. I often chided him, since I couldn't imagine how anyone with a musical talent (I have none) could just - not play!   So a couple of years ago, I dug her out of storage, set her on the den floor next to the sofa, and hoped he would at least be curious to see how well she had fared all those years.

The case sat there for months, collecting dust. I was just about ready to pack her back up when our friend Victor came over to watch a ballgame. Thank goodness Victor is the curious sort!  Being a musician himself, he recognized the music case almost immediately. It wasn't even half-time before both he and Bob were down in the floor, oohing and ahhing over how beautiful she was and what a sweet sound she still made! I knew at that moment, she would never see storage again.

Bob immediately began practicing daily, trying to get his "lip" back. He wasn't satisfied until he was playing in three bands and out almost every night of the week. A similar regimen continues. He never seems to tire of it and speaks often of his regret at having missed out on all those years she sat in storage.

And I love it too!  Few days go by that music doesn't fill our home.  I never tire listening to Bob play.  I figure God intended for some of us to be listeners.  After all, had He made us all to sing, dance or play a musical instrument, who'd be sitting in the audience?

God knew what He was doing when He made me a listener. Why else would He pair me with a musician!

Happy Anniversary, Music Man!

Bob plays with the Salisbury Swing Band. The video below is from a show they recently put on at the downtown Maroney Theatre.  Bob is just behind Lonnie's left elbow.