June 4, 2012

Topic: Up Close

We spent just a little more time with Chris’s electric bass guitar today because sadly, it wasn’t heading out to its normal destination to band practice or Sunday morning church, it was headed into the shop to see if it could be fixed.

You see, after band practice Thursday night, Chris called me on his way home with the sound of a heavy heart in his voice. I wondered what could possibly be wrong because he is never upset after band practice. Then he says to me this in such a sad and broken voice:

Jen….my bass is broken! 

Oh this is a sad day, indeed! Chris’s bass has been with him for more than 20 years. It was his first love before me! (wink wink!) It has served him quite well. I remember him playing it when I first met him. I remember sitting in front of him while he played it and thinking how cool it was that that bass player liked me!

Then he put it away for many years. And when he grew up and decided to pull it out again to play with the praise band at church, I remember sitting again in front of him…but with him…on the floor, removing all the stickers that he had adorned it with when he got it and then also ones that we had picked out together.  A sure sign of growing up, I would say.

So, you see, it was a tender time when he got home that night and decided he would call the nearby music shop to see if he could get it repaired and what that would involve. He brought it in today and we will have to wait a few weeks to find out the results.

He was fortunate enough to play his friend’s acoustic bass at church on Sunday, but he had to sit while playing it. Between you and me, I think that was quite difficult for him. There was one point when his leg was moving so much to the beat of the music, I was sure he wouldn’t be able to stay down.  Our friends who have started joining us at church lately have a son just a year or so older than Logan. On Sunday morning, he leaned over to his dad and asked where Chris was because he always knew he could find him by finding his blue bass.

I’m sure any musician would agree that their instrument is an extension of themselves. This is by all means true for Chris. Here’s hoping for the best outcome for the blue bass.