There are moments as a writer that seem too surreal to be real. If you’ve read The Light Series, you know that Juliette was a piano prodigy. She was twelve in that story and her father’s favorite song was the “Sound of Silence,” the version by Disturbed. As I wrote “Before the Silence,” the short story that focused on her and her family, I listened to that song over and over again. That was in 2017. My younger son was not quite 6.
At that age he was not an easy child! I forced him to do piano lessons and he hated them. But there was something in me that could sense that he was a boy that needed music. I don’t know how to describe that sort of person, hopefully you know what I’m talking about. They are the people who have music in their souls, it’s a part of them in a way that is distinct from how most people are, or at least how I am and most others I know.
Eventually, I learned that making screen time contingent on practice was the key for a little boy who loved screens. His skills started to drastically improve after this. At some point in the last two years, he has learned what I have always known—music is a part of him. When he isn’t playing piano, he’s often listening to it. And when he is playing, he’s often figuring out songs that he’s also listening to. He has the gift of perfect pitch—he can identify a note by listening to it. His piano teacher, who is herself remarkable, fosters his gift by often finding him the piano music to go along with whatever song he might be trying to figure out by ear.
This past winter when he was twelve, the same age as Juliette, I began to hear the “Sound of Silence,” by Disturbed played over and over on his “music phone.” Soon after that the sheet music came home. For weeks my house was filled with the “Sound of Silence.” Every time he played it; I got chills and thanked God for the gift of my son and for his love of music.
It’s bizarre that I had written six years earlier, about a young girl, who was now my son’s age, playing a song that six years later he found and fell in love with all on his own. This boy, who when I wrote the story was far more challenging than most, was now in fact something of a piano prodigy, just as Juliette was. He is gifted at a level that he is still figuring out but that I could sense, though absolutely couldn’t see, for the first many years of his life.
It took many years for him to begin to mellow and become a bit easier to parent, but now he is one of the most fantastic, intelligent, sweet, kind, loving, giving, and gifted children I have ever met. I am obviously biased, but I am also so very proud of my son. He has worked hard to develop his gifts and they stop me and his dad in our tracks on a regular basis.
As Mother’s Day approaches, a holiday that brings with it many emotions, I pray for all the parents who do not yet have their children, for all those who have lost a precious child, and for all the others who are in the throes of parenting a not so easy blessing. God probably looks at us much the same way I saw my little boy. He sees the gifts within us and patiently encourages us to realize those gifts even as we fight against Him. May we all be so good and so patient with our own beautiful children as God is with us. And may we all grow into the saints God created each of us to be.
Above is a picture of my son and his little sister. She adores her big brother. They are two little peas in a musical pod.
Here is a link to Juliette’s story – “Before the Silence.”
And The Light eBook is free now through Monday
And the audio book is free now through Sunday. Enjoy and share them with friends or your mom 😉
If you’ve already listened to or read The Light, the other books in that series are also discounted for the next few days. Happy reading or listening!
