Love And Music In Their Hearts
Living in a fairly relaxed and quiet suburban area does have manypluses, however, this little bonus of weekend enjoyment was something Ilooked forwarded too, although at the time I never realised that I did.
Around three years ago the music and singing stopped and it wasn't untilour neighbours told me of the troubles that their teenage son wasdealing with that I came to realise why, the family was no longer ahappy one where the sound of music and singing could be heard.
Being a parent is a wonderful thing even though it is full of lots ofhighs and lows, however, when the lows hit it can be a challenging andvery saddening experience. As I was to discover over the followingmonths our neighbours son had got involved with a group of otherteenagers whose lifestyle included late night partying, drinking, drugsand doing lot's other anti-social things. This was something I foundhard to comprehend as their son use to play with my two son's and theother boys who live in our street, but suddenly he was off hanging outwith another crowd of young people doing things that were not consistentwith what I new about him. Such is peer pressure I guess, however, itdidn't make it any easier for my two delightful neighbours who hadalways been such wonderful parents and who had brought some weekendenjoyment to me as I went about his household chores.
Over the last couple of years I have often spent time with them in anendeavour to be of some assistance to them in the time of trouble. Ialso had a couple of conversations with their son but nothing seemed tobe working to get this young man back on track and his family, personaland schooling life suffered greatly.
Just over a year ago things started to change for the better and thisyoung man who was now almost out of his teens started to come out of thehorror period in his life. He went back to school to complete his highschool studies and has now gone to commence studies to become anaturopath. From afar and as a neighbour it is great to see that at lasteverything is back on track for this young man and his parents.
From time to time all our immediate neighbours get together to celebratethose special yearly occasions and there is an informal sort of rotationsystem with these events which see us all move from house to house yearin year out. Just recently our neighbours with the son who had gonethrough this rocky period and come out the other end back on track,invited us and a number of other family's over for lunch to celebrateone of those special yearly occasions.
During the course of a relaxing and enjoyable afternoon I sat on thepiano stool in front of now silent piano. I am not sure of the brand ofpiano, however, it is one of those upright models with a highly polishedblack finish. I could not help but notice that there were some words andsome images scratched onto the front of the piano, immediately above thekeyboard.
The words said 'I Hate You' and they appeared they may have beenscratched onto the piano in a fit of rage as they were very rough andfairly deeply etched into the surface of the piano. An attempt had alsobeen made to cover up these three words with a series of scratchescrisscrossing over the top of the words.
Immediately underneath this crudely written and very sad statement werethree images spread across the front of the piano. The images were threestick figures, two large ones and a slightly smaller one, followed bythe shape of a heart and then a flower.
As I sat there I felt the urge to find out what these three words andthree images meant, however, I did not feel it was appropriate to askfor fear that is some way it related to past events that were bestforgotten. The answer came without me even having to ask as ourneighbour and mother of the young man saw me looking at the front ofpiano and came over to sit next to me on the piano stool.
She explained with just a hint of tears in her eyes that her son hadscratched the words onto the piano during a fit of anger as he struggledto come to terms with the pressures he was facing at one of the lowestpoints in his life. She also explained that they had then endeavoured toremove the words themselves but to no avail and could not afford thehigh cost of repairing the panel. Equally, at that time they did notknow if he would do it again and so decided to leave it there.
She went on to tell me that some months later, both she and her husbandcame home one afternoon to find that the three words had been scratchedover in an attempt to cover them up and that the stick figures, heartand flower had been added, and they both took that as sign that theirson had come back to them in both spirit and body. She then smiled at mein a way that said we are okay now and then went off to speak to one ofother neighbours.
There is no doubt that for many months these three words etched on thepiano would have created significant distress and sadness for my twoneighbours as it was clear that they had been directed at them. Myadmiration for them as human beings had now moved to an even higherlevel, knowing that it takes a lot of guts to face up to something likethat day in day out.
What their son had done was unforgivable and had hurt them both sodeeply, however, I found myself understanding why and that perhaps hehad come to realisation of what he had done and what it meant to hisparents during that low period in his life. I thought at that verymoment that he may have decided to make a statement which said I amsorry and the only way he could do that was with the three images. Ialso occurred to me that perhaps his first message may not have beendirected at his parents but rather himself.
I am reminded of a well know quote:
"People will forget what you said,people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how youmade them feel."
What that young man said and did in writing those three words may overtime be forgotten, however, what he did and said when he etched thosethree images into the piano made his mum and dad feel something thatwill never be forgotten - it was a visual expression of the love of sonwho had returned to them.
Their family life seems much more settled and happier now even if thesound of music and singing does not punctuate the weekends as it didbefore, however, this neighbour can live without that in the knowledgethat there is again love and music in their hearts.
Inspired by Alex, Jim and Gerard and written by Keith Ready
Keith Ready
Keith Ready is an Australian based business adviser and trainer whosespecialty is working with his clients to improve top and bottom linebusiness performance in a measurable way, through people. Keith is alsoknown as Mr Inspiration and is publisher of InspirEmail which providesinspirational messages to refresh the spirit and boost the emotionalbank account.
You can visit his website at www.agiftofinspiration.com.au