Mr. Lee

We met Mr. Lee when Anna was just five years old. 

(Here is a post from way back with one of the first pictures I took of them) 

It was her second year of taking viola lessons with the Suzuki method. At first she was terrified of him. She stood ten feet away from him as he patiently taught her the viola and even more patiently waited for Anna to trust him. 

Well, she did. Thousands of hours together she more than just trusted him, she found him a friend, a confidant, a figure in her life who seemed to have just the right wisdom for just the right moment. 

I asked Lee to write in Anna's high school graduation book because I knew it would be the most important letter in there. (I wrote about it back here) 

It's been over three years since she opened that book and read his letter, and even more years since she had her last lesson with Lee. But recently, with a lot on her mind, at a crossroad of decisions, after talking to Scott and I she just wanted one more bit of wisdom, and she knew where to turn. 

She emailed him spilling out her feelings and thoughts, asking for his advice. And of course he wrote back, with more wisdom than I could ever give her too close to the situation. He knew just what to say and changed her perspective. He suggested they get together and they did this summer, for ice cream and a two hour chat. 

I feel so grateful for people in my daughter's lives -- people they can count on for words of encouragement, showing them a different way to look at things, someone to listen to their heart. And for Anna that is certainly found in Lee.