As I was nearing Rochester last Thursday night, this was what I saw - a beautiful sunset over the city. Annie was waiting there to spend a little time with me in the middle of her busy evening as she prepared for her last mid-term exam.
I was feeling very comforted by the beauty in front of me
and my daughter so excited to see me!
On Friday, Annie could hardly contain herself!
They piled into the car and we headed home.
There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort. ~ Jane Austen
Sabrina was only staying with us for one night, but the 3 guys - Drew, Khahn and Lauritz - would be with us for 3 days. Annie and the guys make up the Eastman freshman saxophone quartet "Astutia".
They were all looking forward to spending some of their spring break together.
The quartet members have made it their goal to visit each other's homes before they graduate. Drew lives in Rochester, and they have spent many hours at his home already. Khanh, however, lives in California and Lauritz lives in Denmark.
I guess a 5 hour drive to Connecticut was pretty easy compared to their next home visit!
Much of the conversation during the car ride revolved around music - things I couldn't even begin to understand. But that's ok. What I was interested in discovering had nothing to do with music. It was very plain by the end of the ride home that their quartet had formed something very valuable in their short time together since September. They were able to talk, be honest with each other, and disagree. The could poke fun at each others idiosyncrasies and respect each other's strengths. And there were no hard feelings and no egos.
That was comforting for me to witness.
On Saturday morning, they were introduced to small town America at our local eatery,
Chuck Wagon.
They also went "frolicking" in the woods (Lauritz's Danish translation for "having fun").
They spent much of the afternoon practicing together - but that sounded more like fun than work!
Dinner on Saturday night lasted hours! We were happy to provide good home-cooked meals that might have tasted a tad better than what they could get in the dining hall!
Khanh really enjoys meat. We think he might have consumed an entire cow at one sitting!
All food is comfort food. Maybe I just like to chew. ~ Lewis Black
Vance and I were happy to get to know everyone better and glad they wanted to spend time getting to know us too!
The more time we spent with them, the more we liked them.
On Sunday morning, they came to our church and played an arrangement of hymns before the service began...
This was followed by more "frolicking" in the snow...
playing on the swings at the grammar school...
snowball fights...
sitting in the BIG chair together at Kloter Farms...
and blowing up tubes for sliding...
only to have them pop on the sliding hill...
By the end of the 2nd day, they were at ease lounging in their "comfy" pants...
and snuggling together under some comfy blankets...
And each night, long after they supposedly were going to sleep, I would lay in bed listening to the sound of their laughter coming from down the hall as they gathered together in one of the bedrooms for some "pillow talk" that lasted long after I fell asleep!
That, too, was comforting!
This morning they woke up and went to perform for the band students at Annie's high school. There was also another impressive musical performance at home:
The guys left this afternoon, taking the train back to Rochester to finish their week of Spring Break. Annie was really sad to see them go and was missing them immediately.
Even on the train, they were keeping in touch!
This blog post is all about "comfort".
I am so grateful for the comfort I feel, knowing Annie has these wonderful friends when she is away from home - friends she can really be herself with.
This quartet is more than a group of aspiring musicians.
They are group of really good people who will be there for each other in ways that go far beyond music.
I am convinced of that.
I know there is strength in the differences between us. I know there is comfort where we overlap. ~ Ani DiFranco
Their backgrounds and personalities are so very different. Before this weekend I would not have foreseen such unlikely friendships.
I just love expanding my horizons and growing as an artist. The only way you get to do that is by doing something that scares you or takes you out of your comfort zone. ~ Vanessa Hudgens
I may not know a whole lot about music, but I predict these kids will go on to be a pretty amazing quartet over the next 3 years.
They are each other's comfort zone away from home.
They are like a family.
And when you have such a solid base as they have already have built,
nothing can hold them back.
(and I can't wait to have them back to visit whenever they want!)
