My Magic

   

MY MAGIC



  It seems like since the day she was born, seven years ago, Jodi has been blessed with an incredible sense of imagination.  Whether this gift originated from her fascination with the Disney animated classics, which she has always adored, or simply from a very active mind I could never determine.  What ever its origins were, this virtue was absolutely a true joy to behold.  All children may have vivid imaginations, but Jodi’s was indeed something special.

      Over her brief seven years on this planet, my daughter Jodi has developed and nurtured, on her own, what she affectionately refers to as ‘my magic’. It is the term she coined to describe a quaint little personality trait, a derivative of her wonderful imagination, that enables her to cope with life’s daily set backs; those frustrations unique to a seven year old girl.

      Jodi has a talent of modifying this gift to fit each individual situation as it occurred.  I find it simply adorable and I thank the ghost of Disney for its origins.  I never discouraged her from using it.  Being a writer myself, I have always valued a good imagination, but never dreamed of using it so creatively. 

      We might be at an especially slow traffic light.  Jodi would notice my impatience growing.  She would then get that special twinkle in her eye. 

“I’ll get it to change daddy, I’ll use my magic!” 

        When the light would then change, which it always seemed to do, she would get such a feeling of personal accomplishment.  She would know for certain in her heart that she was the cause of it.  She took her ‘talent’ very seriously.  I would always let her glow in her triumph.

      It was Saturday, my day off.  I decided to make it yet another father and daughter day out.  This has been a tradition that was always special to both of us.

      I woke Jodi up early and we enjoyed breakfast together.  I have never been much of a cook but Jodi always praised my blueberry pancakes and never got tired of eating them.

      We cleaned up the dishes and then sat down to enjoy some television together.  We laughed at the Saturday morning cartoons.  I don’t care how old you are, Bugs Bunny is always hilarious, especially when you watch him with a seven year old.   

    We then got dressed and went to an afternoon movie.  It was a Disney film of course, surprisingly one neither of us had ever seen. 

    We both thoroughly enjoyed the film.  I made a point of telling her not to fill up on popcorn because after the movie we were going to her favorite restaurant for a nice lunch together.  He little eyes lit up with excitement and I must admit so did mine.

      We arrived at the restaurant and were immediately met by a hostess and seated.  The restaurant was moderately busy but by no means crowded.  The hostess brought us our water and menus and promised a waitress would be by shortly to take our orders.  She never defined ‘shortly’. 

    Jodi and I glanced at the menus a number of times.  We eventually decided on our favorite entrees.  We continued to comment on how wonderful the movie was.  No waitress was in sight. 

    We then talked about what a beautiful day it was.  Jodi must have thanked me a hundred times for taking her to see the movie.  Still no waitress. 

      It had been about fifteen minutes and we were both getting a bit impatient not to mention hungry!  No waitress anywhere.  I looked at Jodi and shrugged my shoulders. 

    “I sure don’t understand what is taking her so long; it’s not really that busy.  The service is usually much quicker here.  I’m sorry it’s taking so long sweetheart.” 

      Jodi sat patiently, handling the delay much better than I was.  We continued to wait.  No waitress.  Seeing my look of frustration, Jodi winked at me.  I could tell there was some activity going on inside that seven year old brain of hers.  She then initiated that special glimmer in her eye.  She smiled and spoke as proudly as if she had just won the Nobel Prize.

      “Time for my magic daddy, I will get us a waitress.”

      I grinned, and of course just humored her.  She sat back quietly and that twinkle in her eye appeared again.  That was the indication that she was using her magic. 

      I chuckled and just enjoyed the moment.  Within seconds, out of no where, a waitress did appear.  Jodi and I just smiled.  My happiness was from the simple joy of being her father, while hers was from the accomplishment of solving the problem. 

    “Works every time daddy!”

      I marveled at my daughter’s ingenuity and imagination. I couldn’t help but wonder what part, if any, my genes actually had to do with it. 

      After a wonderful lunch we returned home.  We talked about what a wonderful day it had been.  We finally settled on the couch and decided to watch some television together. 

      An hour passed and I glanced over at Jodi noticing her eye lids appeared to be getting heavy.  I continued to watch her as she eventually dozed off.  I finally nudged her shoulder and suggested she get ready for bed and she agreed.  She got up, went to her bedroom and changed for bed.  A few minutes later I heard her voice from the bedroom

      “Daddy, I’m all ready for bed, would you come up and read me a story please?” 

      Delighted with the request I told her I would be right up. I turned off the television and walked into her room.  Seeing that she was already snuggled comfortably in her bed I decided not to turn on the bright over head light but just use the small reading lamp on her night stand.

      I switched on the lamp and the light came on for a few seconds, and then went off.  We both looked at the lamp with puzzled expressions.  I tried to switch it on again.  The light once again came on for a few seconds then went out.  Jodi sat up and grabbed my arm gently. 

      “Silly light.  Its ok daddy, I’ll use my magic.” 

      I couldn’t help but laugh.  She stared at the lamp for a moment then that special twinkle appeared in her eyes. She asked me to try the light again.  I switched the light on and the bulb illuminated again, only this time it remained on. Jodi’s face lit up as bright as the lamp’s.  She had such a sense of accomplishment.  I made a mental note to check the chord for a short.

      Now that we finally had a steady light she selected a charming story about a princess who was granted one wish.  The princess chose to meet a handsome prince and they lived happily ever after. 

    We closed the book.  As was our tradition after reading a story, we would discuss the meaning of it.  We proceeded to have a wonderful discussion about wishes. 

      I asked her if she were that princess, what she would have wished for.  She thought long and hard for a moment.  It was so adorable to see her with her little fist below her chin pondering the question. 

      “Daddy, if I had one wish, I would wish to have a dolphin for a pet.  I so love dolphins they are so cute.  I would love to have one for a pet and swim with him in our pool.”

      I could envision her swimming in our back yard pool with her pet dolphin. I sat for a moment and recalled what it was like to have the imagination of a child.  I laughed as I thought to myself, it would have to be a small dolphin. 

      “That would be a wonderful wish sweetheart.”  I said, giving her a hug. 

      Jodi then looked at me and asked me the same question. 

      “Daddy, if you had only one wish, what would you wish for?” 

      I thought about the question and gave her a sincere answer.

      “Well sweetheart, you know how daddy likes to play his piano?” 

      She nodded enthusiastically. 

      “Well if I could have one wish, I would wish I could play really good, like a concert pianist and play all those beautiful classical pieces.  I would so enjoy that.” 

      Jodi smiled. 

      “That would be really wonderful daddy! That’s a great wish too!  Well I’m really getting sleepy now so I’m going to sleep now.  Thank you so much for reading the story with me.  I really liked it!  I love you daddy! Goodnight.” 

      I leaned over and gave her a kiss.

      “I really liked it too sweetheart.  Goodnight, I love you too!”

      I turned off the light and walked quietly out of the room.  I closed the door and walked downstairs, still chuckling over the image of Jodi swimming with her dolphin in her little pool.

      I walked to the kitchen and grabbed a cold drink from the refrigerator. I decided to try to find something interesting on television.  After flipping through the channels three times without success I gave up and turned the television off. 

      I had an electric piano in the den which I enjoyed playing for relaxation.  I thought I would play for a few minutes before retiring. 

      I have never had a single music lesson in my life.  I can’t read a note of music which severely hinders my ability to play.  I could only tinker at simple melodies I picked up by ear.  I certainly have limited talent, but I do enjoy playing so I turned the keyboard on and started to play. 

    Much to my amazement I found myself playing a beautiful Beethoven piano sonata!  This was a piece that I had always loved, but could never even dream of trying to play. There was an obvious miscommunication between my fingers and my brain, not to mention my talent level.

      I immediately withdrew my hands from the keys and stepped back.  I had never played anything like this in my life and had no idea how I was playing it now.

        I checked my arms and hands to see if they were the same ones I had started the day with.  Satisfied that they were, I returned to the keyboard, almost afraid to touch them.

      I once again put my fingers on the keys and before I realized what was happening, I found my self playing an incredible selection from Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos.

      I jumped back in astonishment.  My heart was racing.  I don’t know who is playing this but it certainly wasn’t me!  It couldn’t have been me!  I don’t have the training, or the talent to even think of playing something this complex.

      After playing a perfect rendition of Scott Joplin’s ‘The Entertainer’, a very difficult piece for even an accomplished musician, I had to stop.  I was almost to the point of actually being scared. 

      I studied my right hand before placing it back on the keyboard.  Without realizing it, I played an incredible arpeggio and then did the same with my left. What was going on here?  This can’t be me playing, but logic took over.  It had to be me; there was no one else in the room.

      I sat down, trembling like a leaf. I tried to rationalize this strange occurrence unsuccessfully.  My concentration was broken when I noticed Jodi standing silently at the door.

      “Why did you stop playing daddy, I was enjoying it.  You are playing really good tonight!”

      I looked at her dumbfounded.

      “That’s just it sweetheart, I can’t play this good.  I don’t understand how I’m doing this honey.”

      Jodi just smiled with that special twinkle in her eye.  She walked over to me and gave me a hug.

      “Oh daddy I can explain it.  You told me your one wish would be to play piano really good, so I just used my magic.  You know it works every time!  Goodnight daddy, I love you!”



THE END