I like classical music because of my parents. When I was very little, they took my brother, sister and me to hear summer pops concerts at Freedom Park in Charlotte. I loved it. My dad used to put Prokofiev’s ‘Peter and the Wolf’ on a big reel-to-reel tape deck for us to listen to. Loved it.

I started playing the flute when I was about 10, and practiced constantly (sorry, family). When I was old enough to drive, I had my own subscription to the classical music concert series in Charlotte, and would go listen to anything I could. I took as many music classes as I could in college, too. They were among my very favorites.

(To review: classical music, flute-playing, and a reel-to-reel tape deck. I am both very old and a big nerd.)

I still listen to classical music but I haven’t paid as much attention to it in the past ten years as I did when I was younger, and I miss it. As with everything, there never seems to be enough time.

But I do play ‘Peter and the Wolf’ for John. I’d love for him to have some understanding of and appreciation for music that he’s not likely to hear with his friends or during halftime of a basketball game.

So this fall: violin lessons! He’s going to try something new, and maybe I’ll pick up a little something as well. I’m very excited — possibly more than he is, although he’s definitely on board. We’re a very sports-oriented household (to my surprise) and I love the idea of adding some variety to that.

I don’t anticipate that John will be the next phenom of the violin world, and that’s completely fine. But playing music is like magic. It’s like learning a universal language. My hope is that he’ll stick with it long enough for it to get fun.