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Depicted in the photo here is Little Robin and a sister from the local branch. I haven't seen her in some five year, since I severed my ties to the church, and Faith hasn't seen her in about that time, since she stopped going to church. This kind sister knocked on our door literally within a few minutes of Cowboy posting this:
It's an awakening the first time you realize that you can't always persuade your kids to believe you are right. Next thing you know he'll want to become a Mormon.
The sister is one of the only white sisters who lives within the boundaries of the branch. She is an old hippie convert, and had long been viewed by the other members as one of the branch eccentrics. She had definitely been a bit marginalized by the other members for her peculiar outlook. Before Faith stopped attending, she had been serving as the primary president of the branch, and had chosen this good sister to be her only counselor. The branch president had felt some reservations about Faith's choice, but Faith insisted that this good sister had a beautiful spirit that would enrich the lives of the children. It meant a lot to the sister to be called (it may have been one of her only callings), and she accepted the challenging calling and served the children well, just as Faith had expected. It was through the primary that this sister came to know Little Robin.
So the sister hasn't seen Little Robin in five years. Little Robin is ten, and half of his life has passed by since the sister last saw him. Little Robin has no recollection of this woman or anything that happened at church, except the sacrament (bread!) and branch meetings after church when day-old pastries were given to any branch members that cared to take them (donated by a local bakery). Little robin remembers the donuts.
Shortly before Faith stopped attending the branch, she and this sister were planning to perform a musical number, A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief, to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which was always a big deal for the branch. In the number Faith was going to play the guitar, this sister would play the banjo, and they would sing the hymn as a duet. They practiced for weeks in preparation to perform for their branch family. On the day of the meeting, the branch president caught wind that a banjo would be included in the number. He shut down the performance, and broke this woman's heart.
What Faith and I didn't know is that this woman had not seriously picked up the banjo again in all of the time between that disappointing day and the moment yesterday when she came knocking on our door. The Spriit, she claimed, had moved her to come by yesterday and present to Little Robin the banjo as a gift.
She went on to share with us her testimony of music, Pete Seeger, the Word of Wisdom, and many other things which, because of her kind warm spirit, I felt to be profound and moving. She taught Little Robin a few simple tricks and techniques with the banjo and blessed him that Pete Seeger might live long enough to meet him.
I could tell from the moment she walked in the door that this was going to be one of those surreal important moments in life, and I wanted to capture some of it, so I asked her for permission to photograph and record her visit. She obliged.
What follows are some of the bits and pieces of this visit. It probably runs a bit long for most of you, but I made it for me and Faith and Little Robin, so that is okay. I share it with you. At one point during the video she is talking about a talk I gave at the branch, one of those introductory talks. She talks about approaching me in the hall before the talk, to ask me some questions.
Anyhow, what a lovely woman and what a lovely testimony:
[YOUTUBE]
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How nice of her to drop by and give little Robin a banjo.
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