A Forced Relationship

The time had finally come, he walked onto the stage in front of the largest audience he had ever seen. He could feel his heart racing in his chest, but he knew he was overly prepared. Right when he was about to cue in the piano, his worst fear was coming true. There was nothing he could do.

…

Chris Smith was a prodigy. It is as simple as that. He had been playing the saxophone since the day he could hold one. When he was very young, his parents sent him to lessons with the top teacher in the area. From this teacher, he learned all of the foundations: scales, how to play with a good tone, phrasing, and how to put together a piece of music. Already, at the age of six, he had become quite the musician and had performed at many concerts. Though his parents were pushing him into this role, they never attended any of his concerts or lessons. In a sense, Chris was raised by his teacher; he would get dropped off in the morning and his parents would pick him up after work. When he was old enough to go to school, he met his teacher after school and stayed there until his parents picked him up. Though Chris felt a disconnection with his parents, his level of playing rose tremendously due to the amount of time his was being forced to put into it.

Because Chris was forced into playing the saxophone from such a young age, he was never asked if he wanted to do it or not. When he became old enough to decide for himself, he continued to play because it was something he always knew. Though his passion was not the strongest, he still had tremendous talent. Because his parents never bothered to ask if he enjoyed playing, they continued to push him through lessons without knowing the effect they were having on their son. Though they knew he was talented, they never actually heard first-hand the amount of talent he had because they personally did not care enough to hear him play.

When Chris had been studying with his current teacher for about six years, his parents made the decision to switch teachers because they thought it was best he got different opinions on his playing. He was not happy with this decision. He had become very close with his teacher and did not see the need to change what he thought was working. Alas, his parents did not listen to him, and he was forced to change teachers.

When he met with the new teacher, something was not right. The dynamic between the two did not gel. Though it was obvious to anyone in the room, the parents were never around during lessons, so it went unnoticed. This teacher was almost abusive, to the point that Chris despised going to lessons; he never wanted to be at his teacher’s house. This, of course, led to a further disinterest in playing the saxophone in the first place. When his parents picked him up from lessons, they could see something was wrong, but they never cared enough to ask what was going on; they only continued to send him to the same teacher.

This relationship between Chris and his parents continued to worsen when they decided that they were going to send him to Europe to study the saxophone further. At first, this sounded like a wonderful idea to Chris because he had hoped to find a new love of playing the instrument while touring the continent with his family, but he soon found out this would not be the case. His parents said that they were only sending him to Europe because they wanted him to focus on strengthening as a player; they did not want to be a distraction.

While in Europe, Chris received the best instruction possible from the top universities and players. Though he was separated from his family, he did find something he had never found before—the joy of playing. He used this, along with the instruction of the world’s best, to help him grow into an even more extraordinary player. He held many vastly attended concerts while in Europe where many complimented him on the beauty of his playing. Many people even commented that they had never heard someone play with such passion before, and they wondered how he achieved it. Though Chris did not know the exact answer to this at the time, he came to realize that his tense family relationship created the desire for something to hold on to, which turned out to be playing the saxophone.

Chris held a few more concerts in Europe before he returned home. At his final concert in Europe, he was recognized by one of the greatest saxophone players in the world. When they talked after the concert, Chris was ecstatic to be given the opportunity to travel with this musician. The only catch was that he wanted to hear Chris perform at one more concert back in the United States in front of his home audience to see how he handled the pressure of playing for people he knew. This did not phase Chris at all; he knew he was capable because he had played for his hometown multiple times before.

After this encounter, it was time for Chris to go home; he had spent enough time in Europe, and it had obviously payed off for him as he was a much improved performer and person. When he returned home, he was overjoyed with the opportunity and set a date for the concert immediately. Then, he started preparing. Chris wanted to make sure everything was perfect for this concert; he was, for once in his life, driven to succeed, and he was not going to let anything stop him. He practiced day and night until the day of the concert.

On the day of the concert, Chris was prepared: he had all of his pieces memorized, he had the perfect accompanist, and he made sure that everyone around knew about the concert so that he would have the best audience. When Chris walked onto stage, he looked at the greatest audience he had ever seen. He began scanning the audience to see who was there; he saw the European musician, he saw his old teachers, he saw his best friends, but there were two people in the audience he had not expected to see—his parents. When Chris looked out in the audience and saw his parents, he panicked, his worst fear was coming true. He did not have time to react, however, because he had a concert to give. He welcomed the audience, and it was time to start his first piece. The piano started playing, but Chris was too worried about his parents being there to remember when he had to come in. On top of this, he could not remember any of the song. When he finally did come in, he was not only late, but he started to play a completely different tune. He had spent months getting ready for this concert to make everything perfect, just for his parents to throw everything off once again. Chris was not going to let this happen. He stopped playing in that instant and apologized to the audience. He said that he needed a five minute break to regroup.

During his break, Chris went into a separate room so no one could hear him. He just started to play for himself. When he heard what he was doing, he began to gain back his focus. He started producing the best sounding music he had ever heard himself play. His five minutes was up, and he was ready for anything else that he imagined could arise.

When Chris returned, everyone was still where they had been before, and he started to play. He forgot about everything that was happening in front of him; he forgot that his parents were there; he forgot that he had messed up earlier; he even forgot the reason that he had the concert in the first place. In that moment, it was just Chris, his instrument, and his musicianship as it had been so many times before. He ended up performing one of the best concerts he had ever played.

After the concert, he met with his past teachers who were astounded by the growth Chris showed. They even both made comments that he may be better than they could ever hope to be. After these encounters, it was time for Chris to meet with the European sensation. Chris did not know what was going to happen, he felt pretty confident in himself, so he was ready to see what would happen. When Chris met with the musician, he first received compliments on how beautifully he played and what courage it took to get back on stage after such a rough start. Chris now felt even more confident. The musician continued by saying that he did not want to travel with him, however, because he could not risk having a rough start at one of his concerts. The musician gave a forced apology, but told Chris to never stop playing because he has real talent and with this, he left.

Chris was absolutely devastated—the biggest chance of his life just slipped through his fingers because of his parents—but he soon saw the people he feared the most walking towards him. He still had to face his parents. The conversation started with Chris blaming them because he did not get the opportunity he desired so much. He listened as they explained, for the first time, how proud of him they were and that they loved him. Then, his attitude changed quickly as he gave both of his parents the first hug he had ever given them. He thanked them for finally caring enough to show up at one of his events even though the result was not expected. Though Chris had not attained the world tour with one of the greatest musicians of all time, he had achieved so much more at his concert—a relationship with his parents was finally established because they showed him that they cared.