it is that time of year. although I am not a parent I often felt like one. my closest friend here in the cities is a single mom. I have know her son since day one. in many ways I became a father figure for him. he is now turning 18 and graduating from high school. his grade point average is top notch. he is a great young man. he grew up in the inner city in a rough neighborhood. he never hung with the wrong crowd. all that gangsta stuff never interested him.
he was fortunate with help from many sources to go to the downtown gifted arts school.
he was always a natural born drummer. he always showed creative interest and intelligence. in school band he was the drummer. in his junior year the band teacher had him sight reading and moving to marimba, and then bass. he took to those like a fish in water.
I baby sat for him all his life, so mom could work and go to nursing school. he used to fall asleep with my guitar playing.
six months ago he asked me if I had a beater guitar he could fool with. I had a very beat up Melody Maker from the 70's. he loved its vibe. there were no knobs and the switch popped loud when flicking from one pick up to the other. still, he and his buddies jammed in the bedroom all the time.
his friends were cool. they were all bright and hung out all the time at mom's house. they participated in all the school activities. they loved drama. I saw them do Grease this year. man, could they dance and sing. he can jive dance and flip girls around like they did in the old days. oh my god. to them, that stuff was just fun and no big deal.
this year the Rotary Club picked him to be an exchange student. he is going to Japan. it's huge. he loves anime and that whole modern japanese hip scene. his second language is japanese. amazing.
he began karate as a little kid. now he is a third degree black belt. he got me to take classes. (I made it to brown belt with two black stripes before I got injured and could not finish).
what a kid. what a young man. he is polite and caring and thankful for all the things that have ever come his way. he earned everything. we spent hours doing homework together.
he has always stood up when he had to.
now he is 18. his name is Jahi. (his father is a Jamaican who could not get off the island...a long story).
does it sound like I am proud?
so now I am standing up. I went to Willies American Guitar and got him a new guitar.
it is a Godin. its really a nice guitar. great sustain and tone unplugged. ampified it sounds huge.
it is way too busy for me, but I am sure he'll dig it.
two single coils, incredible fretwork. the first two knobs control the volume. the last works the tone. it is cool that you can blend the two pickups with the volume knobs.
I have bought almost all my guitars from Willies. he was there today. I told him what I wanted and who it was for. he knocked some off the top price and gave me a huge deal.
Jahi gets his guitar tonight.
Jahi is a very fortunate guy. Great post, Dogbite. :)
Nice guitar. He will love it. Godin is great brand. I tried a couple of them and I liked very much.
PS. Please, transmit my congrats to him!
How come he just picked up the guitar 6 months a go?
I guess he was too busy with drum and bass and swing dancing. :lol:
post script...the hardware is silver. it appears gold because it must be reflecting the hardwood floor.
That's a Radiator, no?
Beauty.
Great stuff, Randy. 8) :)
Don
Your karma's looking pretty good there, Dogbite. That's a sweet looking guitar. Jahi 's a lucky young man to have a mentor like you.
:D :D :D
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
yeah, it is a Radiator. odd name when I see it in type. I use radiators to heat my house.
Jahi is such a good kid. I really needed to do this.
karma. sure hope it doesn't run over my dogma.
sorry, old joke.
I have been having a blast playing this. it is sweet. not expensive. same cost as a Squire. and tons better.
thanks for the cheers. off I go now to drop it off.
Beautiful guitar! Beautiful story! And, you're a beautiful man for doing this for Jahi! :D
..· ´¨¨)) -:¦:-
¸.·´ .·´¨¨))
((¸¸.·´ .·´
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´ -:¦:- Elecktrablue -:¦:-
"Don't wanna ride no shootin' star. Just wanna play on the rhythm guitar." Emmylou Harris, "Rhythm Guitar" from "The Ballad of Sally Rose"
That is really terrific, DB! :mrgreen:
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
:)
-=tension & release=-
Your karma's looking pretty good there, Dogbite. That's a sweet looking guitar. Jahi 's a lucky young man to have a mentor like you.
:D :D :D
Vic
+ a jillion-zillion
Trust me. He will never forget you and appreciate you more and more as he grows older. I'd probably be a statistic if it wasn't for mine.
I had a dude like you that I looked up to as a paternal figure. Great guy. Bob is his name. Long story short time: A few years back, I learned of this one kid about my son's age who was in a bad situation one night. I went to get him. The whole time I was gone, all's I could think about was what Bob would think (and the subsequent butt-kicking I'd receive) if I didn't help the kid. Walked back in the house and the phone rang. From 750 miles away and near midnight, it was Bob calling out of the blue. The only time in my life he ever called at night. Just was thinking of me and thought I'd be up. Weird or what???
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
Great story! :D
Jahi shure is lucky to have you in his life. 8)
Dan
"The only way I know that guarantees no mistakes is not to play and that's simply not an option". David Hodge
What a great story, Dogbite! You're a good man to help guide that young man in the right direction. BTW, I really like those Radiators. I passed on a chance to get a nice used one last year at GC. Now this has me thinking about those again. Breathe, Jim, breathe. (LOL)
Have a great rest of your week.
Jim
Nice job DB :wink:
"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!
That is very cool, an excellent gift. Much more memorable than a card with cash. It's good to hear stories about "good" kids that succeed. Too much of the news is about the bad kids.
I personally believe being in band is a tremendous influence on students succeeding. I know there have been studies showing high correlation between music/band and high grades. Just from personal observation of my son, who just finished his sophomore year and has been in band since 6th grade (he plays percussion as well), and all his bandmates, being in the band brings together a pretty diverse group of kids. And they all seem to be darn good kids. Most of them are active in other school activities, my son is in drama and I finally got to see him in a scene a few weeks ago. It blew me away, I never knew he could act! I wasn't involved in anything in high school and my grades and behavior showed it.
Good job, dogbite. It's nice to see people be a positive force in someone's life.
Sounds like great kid and you are a good man for all you've done
for him and his mom. I'm sure he loves the guitar.
Oh by the way have you ever thought of adopting a favorite uncle who
would graciously accept any gifts you would like to bestow. :lol:
John
