Family Fest 2020

One feature of all Dunnevant Christmas celebrations prior to the plague of 2020 has been the informal, impromptu concert of music that always breaks out after presents have been opened and dinner consumed. Donnie and I bring our guitars out and Linda sits down at the piano and music happens. There are beautiful carols and goofy songs, and songs from all of our childhoods. It’s one of the highlights of the day. Of course this year, thanks to the C Who Stole Christmas, spontaneous outbreaks of music won’t be a thing. 

Hold on...but what do my wondering eyes should appear, but a Facebook invitation from my wife so dear. 

With the help of modern technology, apparently we are going to try to make a go of it via Marco Polo. No, I am not referring to the 13th century Venetian merchant/explorer, nor am I referring that incredibly annoying middle school swimming pool game. No, I refer here to that marvelous answer to the question that absolutely nobody was asking, Wouldn’t it be great if we could text someone using only videos?? Yes, That Marco Polo. It will work something like this...anyone who wants to perform a song, read a story, play an instrument or whatever, simply signs up on the handy GoogleDoc that Pam attached to the invitation. Then, starting at a predetermined hour we will all perform our selections, submit them via the video app, then sit back and listen to the cheers and jeers that will naturally rain down on the performer. Thusly, we will be able to recreate the general ambiance of the singalong from three or four separate locations. Wonderful, right?

As I have tried to imagine what this might be like, I can’t help but think of my parents, especially my Mom. What in the world would she make of something like Marco Polo? More importantly, how, in the name of all that is righteous and holy, would we be able to explain to her how to use such a thing? I can still recall the angst involved in introducing her to Windows. I use the personal pronoun here in error. I had absolutely nothing to do with my mother’s computer education. That nightmare fell to my sister but mostly to my wife. With a level of patience that would make Job look like a foot-stomping toddler, Pam would labor for hours with Mom trying to get her to understand the general principles of modern computers...only to get called two days later by my distraught and unhinged mother, furious that she couldn’t remember how to...open a window. Trying to picture what all of this would be like if Mom and Dad were still with us causes me to laugh out loud at the possibilities. So, I’m thinking that I might write a What If story for one of my acts for Family Fest 2020 entitled, Marco Polo-ing With Mom.

I better get started. Only eight more days until showtime!