The Best Graduation Gift of All

This weekend, two of my siblings are graduating from their respective schools. From the picture above of my college senior recital, taken in 2005, I'm talking about the boy in the middle and the girl on the far right.

My brother will have completed his Associate's Degree at Iowa Lakes Community College in music. This fall, he is transferring to a 4-year college and he will work to complete his Bachelor's Degree in music, most likely trumpet performance.

My sister will have completed her Bachelor's Degree in Business and Marketing from Briar Cliff University. From there, she is moving to Arizona to find employment and new life outside of her hometown.

I would say that out of the 5 of us Larsen kids, these two are the most different in personalities, and it shows. There is sharp disagreement between the two in just about every topic under the sun.

However, there is one particular subject upon which they would have to agree: they both love music.

Music for them is vastly different from my own love of music. I prefer the classics, my brother prefers jazz, and my sister prefers musicals (I should say, she prefers Mary Poppins and Mary Poppins Returns). But we all have a strong appreciation for music, something none of us would have had unless we had taken piano and band lessons during our younger school years.

As a perfect example, during their elementary school days, these two would create "concerts" for us whenever I came home from college or from my post-college days from Chicago. They would rope our youngest sister into singing while the other two played the drums and piano. No one was in charge, the music was noise, and the performance was followed by a magic show given by my brother.

NOTHING SHORT OF HILARIOUS.

But it goes to show one how much of an impact music can be in one's life. So while my brother continues to practice his trumpet over the summer, my sister will be driving to Arizona with her Mary Poppins music blaring out the speakers. In either scenario, they've already received their most priceless graduation gift ever - the love of music.

Congrats Mary and Lincoln!