By LAMAR THAMES

Tuesday, May 5, is my birthday, and while that doesn’t have anything directly to do with this story, I mention it as a way of telling you that the month leading up to the 65th celebration of my birth has been enormously satisfying — and possibly even life-changing. More about that later. Right now, let’s talk about the satisfying parts. In the past month, I:

• Visited an elderly aunt and took her out to lunch on her birthday
• Visited a bed-riddden cousin in a nursing home
• Spent three days at Easter with all six grandchildren and took them to church Easter Sunday
• Spent a few days with my sister and favorite uncle in the Tampa area
• Attended my eldest son Robert’s acting performance in the play Holy Ghost
• Took two of my grandsons to play golf
• Played golf with a Rotary friend
• Attended a most satisfying elementary school musical with my wife and three of our six grandchildren
• Finished it off by listening to another son, Joe, sing at a charity concert a song he wrote honoring my father and I. 

Of course, most of these activities, except the golf, were shared with my companion and love of my life, my wife, Barbara. So truly, I have been blessed with an exceptional month.

If you will notice, three of the activities are related directly to an item that has been in the news lately — music education. For whatever reason, three of my children were involved in music programs in schools, either band or chorus. Pressure is on now for schools to cut their budgets and that usually means that either music or art education (sometimes both) are destined to be cut from the curriculum.

That a popular music teacher at an elementary school in Clay County, Fla., almost got the ax created near cataclysmic protests from parents, teachers, students and community leaders. And rightly so. It was a travesty that the school’s music teacher, Evan Gould, was even under the threat of losing his job. If you saw the results of his latest music production at Paterson Elementary School, Aladdin, you would agree with me that Gould is one of the treasures that this school district can’t afford to lose. No matter what the cost. Without people like Evan, I don’t think my son would be starring in local community theater productions, the three grandchildren (including a 4-year-old) wouldn’t be mesmerized by three of the most super elementary school actors I have seen and I would not have been teary-eyed while my son sang a song he wrote honoring his grandfather and I. Thank you, Even Goulds, whever you are!

Now, to the life-altering events. 

Visiting my 84-year-old aunt and her invalid, Vietnam veteran son was a traumatic experience for me and it made me regret not having been there more often. After all, they live just down the road in Palataka. I could have traveled there more often, couldn’t I? Yes,  of course, I could have. And I will. I promise. You can hold me to that promise, God. 

The other thing was visiting my uncle, Bob, the one person I have always wanted to be best friends with my entire life. Uncle Bob (I just call him Bobby because he is only four years — and one day— older than I am.) Over the years we have drifted apart but now in our declining years I have determined that he is going to be my best friend, whether he likes it or not. I love you, Bob.

I am planning another trip to see Uncle Bob in another week and I am going to take him with me to Lakeland to look up a long-lost high school friend that I no longer have contact with, Manuel Fretto. It was my fault that he quit calling me a couple of years ago. I kind of gave him the cold shoulder and he apparently felt the snub. Have not heard from him since and the phone number I had for him is no longer in service. I hope he’s all right. 

In conclusion, I want to thank all the people who have helped make this past month one of the most memorable of my life. Now, let’s all get together Tuesday and celebrate my birthday. After all, it is Cinco de Mayo.

(To see photos of the charity event, Donate Life, at the Jacksonville Landing, click on the gallery tab above.)