A little more than five years ago, my daughter, Arlie (11), started in tae kwon do. She will be a black belt next October if she is able to stay on track. About 580 classes we have gone to. We try to go as a family to support her, so Zip is usually with us. Usually he sits on my lap and plays with his iPad or my phone.
One day, a dad of another kid in class mentioned to me something about my boy “always playing games” when we were there. “Yes,” I said. “It’s safe for him.” He mentioned his boy was doing drum lessons in addition to tae kwon do. Zip had just done his kindergarten performance at school and my dad and I had talked about Zip having good rhythm.
Next thing I knew, this generous man whom I had rarely spoken to, but spent many an hour at the same place with, was offering up his child’s old drum set. He set up a free drum lesson for Zip at the same place his son took lessons, and donated his son’s child-sized drum set to us.
Zip was SO excited. FOP, a rare muscle condition that changes muscle to bone, has limited Zip’s range of motion, but he can still bang out the beats his instructor teaches him. This past year, he has thoroughly enjoyed drum lessons
It came time to make his wish list for Santa, and a full-sized drum set was at the top of the list.
I reached out to his drum instructor to inquire about where to purchase such a thing. His reaction was priceless. “I don’t know how to tell you this…we’ve already put a plan in place.”
“The Marks” (TKD dad Mark and drum instructor Mark) as we’ve come to call them, had hatched a plan to get Zip a new drum set for Christmas. On the evening of December 15th, Santa arrived at drum lessons and delivered Zip’s wish.
While they weren’t dressed in the jolly red suit, it was clear to me that Santa was in Claremore this night.
The spirit of Christmas. The selfless giving. That is what Santa looks like.
It looks like a giving dad and a spirited drum instructor donating their time and energy to make a little boy’s Christmas wish come true. Our family will be forever grateful.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart to both of the Marks.
-AG
