Introducing Marco

Life is skittles.  Marco is a brilliant and talented individual, but all I care about is the way he performs "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park". 

Marco approached me while I was doing crossing guard duty at Conlee Elementary.  He wanted to use me as a featured artist in a recital he was directing.  I don't think I had ever talked to him before that.  For a young dude, I thought that took some balls to just approach me on the street like that.  Anyway, we walked back to my classroom and ran over some songs.  This was my first year out of school, first year as a teacher, and I was excited to do a concert again.  When we played through "Can't Help Lovin' That Man", a song I could sing in my sleep, my voice cracked a little.  I chalked it up to being out of practice, and vowed to warm up every morning for the two weeks leading up to the concert.  And I was going to knock those people out of their seats with my four super-diva musical theater songs. 

Throughout the next week, Marco checked up on me, making sure I was feeling ready, expressing his excitement that I would be starring in his concert.  I tried to keep our conversations short, because I was feeling a little hoarse, like I was getting a cold.  I knew that I could get over a cold in two weeks, and didn't want to worry him.  Little did I know that "cold" was the first sign of the months-long illness I suffered due to an allergic reaction to my classroom.  My tonsils were huge, my vocal cords were rough, and my ears were swelled shut.  Even if I could utter a sound, I couldn't hear it to know if I was on pitch.  I had to confess to Marco. 

Marco kept an optimistic front, assuring me that I would get better, and even if I didn't, my sheer presence at the concert would be important.  I conducted silent lessons in my music classes, rested as much as possible, but just couldn't sing. 

The night of the concert arrived.  Marco had talked me up to ticketholders and performers alike.  I regretted every prideful thought that had ever entered my head.  We cut three of my four songs, and I just tried to growl through "Over the Moon", which was a disaster.  The rest of the concert was wonderful, though.  Josh and Marco had assembled a terrific bunch of young performers, including themselves.  The night was a big success, no thanks to me, and Marco never made me feel bad about it. 

I probably wouldn't blog at all had it not been for Marco.  He passionately encourages all of my creative endeavors, no matter how small.