Happy Endings Still Happen

I have a friend who is a professional musician, in his mid-fifties, and until recently had never given any indication of a love affair with anything other than music. I’m not suggesting that there is anything wrong with that. It’s just that he is such a great person, I always was a little sad that there was no one for him to share his life with.

But when he came back from playing in a summer orchestra this year, something was different. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Then about 6 weeks later, I heard that his girlfriend was in town. GIRLFRIEND? Apparently he had met her a couple of summers ago while playing in the same orchestra, but this year they found each other and fell in love.

Since then they have been commuting back and forth across the county as their schedules permit. (I neglected to say that she too plays first chair in a major symphony orchestra.) When I asked him about how he liked this arrangement, he said, “It really sucks.” Then when pushed he admitted that she might be moving here. That amounts to a huge commitment on her part as you don’t just walk into a new orchestra and play first chair anything. Hmmmm...

Well, the latest is that they are getting married in December. How’s that for a whirlwind romance? But knowing my friend, he has thought long and hard about this and he is obviously really in love. She will go back to her current job for the remainder of the season and then move here next fall. Meanwhile, they have another summer orchestra experience to look forward to. That’s almost as good as a honeymoon!

It’s been a long time since I experienced that feeling of being “newly in love”. I am so excited that he now knows what it feels like. Here’s hoping that marriage will be everything he has always wished for!