We've known it's coming for years. We've known Glo would have to play a recital to fulfill the requirements of her music education degree. After much effort to align schedules, the date was set: Thursday, November 18, 2021.
Years ago (five years to be exact), I bought Glo the music for "The Lark Ascending" by Ralph Vaughan Williams. I think it is one of the most beautiful pieces in all of violin literature, and I begged her to study it and play it sometime before she graduated. Well, when she was thinking about her 45 minute recital, and what she would like to include on it, she took the idea of "Lark" to her teacher, and it was approved! She also took the suggestion from me that she should invite Mark to play on her recital, seeing as she had played on his recital five years earlier, and she and Mark decided to play the same Brahms horn trio from his recital.
It was difficult, hosting a recital in a place where we don't have a lot of friends or support, so I decided to make invitations to the recital that I could send out and that Glo could hand out. I needed pictures taken, and Glo wasn't moving too quickly on that front. Once her two dresses arrived, and she chose which one she wanted to wear, I contacted the photographer for Mark's wedding. Unbelievably, she was shooting small sessions that weekend, so I signed up Glo, and a few days later, we had some really great photos. I got the invitations made quickly.
I had no idea who would want to come, but I went through my address book and sent one to anyone who might know Glo who lived in Utah (and even Idaho). Glo handed out all the ones that I had made for her as well, so she went to the copy center and had more printed up. I reminded her that the rule-of-thumb is that 30% of the people you invite to anything will come.
A really tough thing happened to Glo. Not only did Buddy and Melanie tell her that they wouldn't be able to attend because they had a temple baptistry session scheduled for that exact evening, but her teacher told her just days before her recital that she wouldn't be attending either. It's difficult to explain to people from Utah that my kids just don't have the familial support that other kids in the area have. It's not like we can get 100 of our closest relatives to show up and support us, so not having Katrina, Buddy or Melanie there was super painful for Glo, but nothing could have prepared her for her teacher telling her she wouldn't be coming. And it isn't like she had a good excuse--she had a paying gig in Washington State. As Mark put it (along with most anyone else who has heard this story), her paying gig is TEACHING. Her students should come first. I ended up calling her teacher and telling her about Glo's disappointment, John wrote the dean of the music school, and I personally invited the president of BYU. I doubt anything will be done to that teacher, but I wouldn't be sad if she was reprimanded in some way. Nonetheless, none of this helped Glo feel any better. It did make me even more determined, however, to create a really beautiful night.
We were flying in the night before the recital, so I ordered everything I could to be delivered to Glo's apartment beforehand. A cupcake stand, cups, plates, even napkins with birds on them (which Glo ended up leaving in her apartment...) So when we arrived, Hannah and I had a list of things to get to prepare for the reception after the recital. We picked up cookies and cupcakes from Sweet Tooth Fairy, we bought a gorgeous bouquet of flowers along with flowers for the table, we shopped for frames at Hobby Lobby for the pictures, we bought individual bottles of Creamery milk. I had been worried about the concert space in the Maeser building, and John thought I wouldn't like it at all, but I thought it was just perfect when we ran by there in the morning. Much smaller than a concert hall and much more intimate. Plus the building is just beautiful.
Glo had classes, and then we headed over to set up things. Abby Moran showed up surprisingly, and she was early and willing to help so we put her to work. I wish I had taken a photo of the table, because it looked very pretty with little porcelain birds and all the delicious bakery items, but alas, I was too busy to think about that.
I wish I could adequately express my feelings as people began to arrive. John and I stationed ourselves at the front door to the Maeser so that we could direct people up the stairs, and it was just one blast from the past after another. It was a living timeline of our lives and the people who have been our dearest friends:
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