Beautiful, Loved and Blessed

A Misunderstanding

"Wow, I can't believe that you're actually teaching kids now! I'm more than happy to come to Paisley and teach the kids a few things. Just let me know the date and time."

"Thanks Morris. You know I always thought you were the most underrated drummer in the business.

"Too bad you just decided to let me know." Morris said laughing.

"Better late than never. Now just to let you know, I'm also going to invite Sheila."

"Why?"

"In addition to some boys, I actually have three girls that chose drums as their instrument too. I want them to learn how to drum from the female perspective. Sheila will be able to teach them things that we know nothing about, especially when you think about how drumming effects the female anatomy. And truth be told, I want them to see that being a girl doesn't mean you can't be better than the guys."

"Better than the guys? Sounds like a battle of the drummers to me and you know I'm always up to the challenge to whoop Sheila's behind." Morris said.

"No battle. I just want this to be a full learning experience Morris. Not only for the girls but when the boys see Sheila on those drums, it will also teach them to respect female musicians. So no battling will be taking place. These are first graders, so please keep that in mind."

"I get it, but enough about Sheila and drumming. Tell me P, how are those first grade mamas looking? I know a few of them are fine and all of them can't be married."

Only my dear childhood friend and former bandmate Morris Day would be worried about getting with someone's mother. Laughing, I said

"I'm a professional Morris and I plan on keeping it professional." In his signature animated voice, Morris said

"I didn't ask you that. I said....Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who has the finest Mama of them all?"

I laughed so hard, that Morris starting laughing too.

"Okay, since you're being so adamant I'll tell you. I have a student named Ava and her Mama is finer than fine, but she seems so desperate. In front of all the other parents she had the audacity to ask me if I gave private lessons for parents. That was a real turn off."

"Hey man, if she's that fine send her over to your teaching assistant Mr. Day for those private lessons. I got a nice instrument I can teach her how to play."

"Still using your player card Morris?"

"You know it! Still punching holes in it every chance I get. And are you actually telling me you haven't thought about getting with at least one of them?"

"Not at all. I'm only into teaching music to the children and it's more fulfilling than I imagined. I know that you were blessed to be able to fully experience fatherhood. I never got that chance, so you can imagine how overdue this may feel to me."

"I totally get it. But you're not even 50 yet and you still have a youthful spirit and energy, so it's not too late Skip."

"For me it is. I've decided to totally focus on being a great musical educator. I'm hoping to inspire future musicians in a different way. I'll still tour when I can, but my purpose is so much bigger now. I'm even thinking about doing a one week music summer camp or something. These kids have sparked ideas in me that I didn't even know existed. And to tell you the truth Morris, I have come to realize that love wasn't meant for me in this life. God has blessed me with so much that I'm not even complaining about it. I actually stopped looking for love a while ago and I feel blessed that God has given me a new type of love to fill that void."