Mom on the Run: A musical milestone remembered

I came into the All City Band Concert on autopilot tonight. Band concerts used to be big news in my house, ironing white blouses and planning an early dinner, but they long ago become an old hat, we've had so many, and now we toss on the uniform as is and dash out the door five minutes before warm-ups. Now what I appreciate is not the music or the kids' growing musical abilities so much as the opportunity to catch up with old friends.

And sure enough, they're all here tonight, moms from dance and swim team and day care, and we happily chat and share and laugh until the band teacher steps up and taps his pencil on the podium.

I didn't really hear the first song; I was studying the program and identifying younger siblings of my kids' friends. Because I've heard this all before, right? The warm-up tunes that new band parents accidentally applaud, the earnest, sometimes squeaky beginning band songs. I tuned it out, settled in, and waited for my daughter's part in the program.

But then the second song started, and the tune broke through my reverie and I pricked up my ears and picked up my program. "Bugler's Dream (Olympic Fanfare)" -- of course! I grinned, delighted, and waved to my daughter, down below with the high school band. Catching her eye, I pointed to the fifth-grade band and mouthed, "You played this!"

I'm sure of it, I know my daughter played this song, probably in fifth grade herself. It was an Olympics year, and as a beginning band member she was thrilled to play a song she had been hearing on TV.

"Listen, Mom!" she had cried, "Hear it?" It was hard to make out, because my daughter plays the baritone, a deep, back-row instrument that virtually never carries melody, but, "Yes!" right there in the middle, a few notes, just recognizable as the Olympics theme song. She practiced it over and over and over.

And here it was again! The Olympics torch is on the move and the fanfare is back, and I sat up straight on the bleachers, grinned at my kid even though, far away, she had no idea why. I enjoyed the song and marveled at how long ago it all was, how quickly the years have flown, and how lovely a surprise to have it all brought back.

So now we're in the car going home. The four bands have played their pieces plus an enthusiastic rendition of "America" jointly by all 200-some students, the gymnasium has been returned to its athletic purpose, and my daughter and I can finally talk. "I was waving at you because you played that! The Olympics song!" She looks confused, so, "The Bugle Fanfare that the fifth graders played! Don't you remember? You had been so proud of it."

My 16-year-old's face softens into the familiar 'poor Mom' look, and she says, "Oh."

"Oh"? A shining moment of her childhood, played back triumphantly, unexpectedly, tonight, and all she's got is, "Oh?"

Oh.

Lianne Wilkens lives with her family in Manassas. She can be reached at liannewilkens@hotmail.com.