Glenn’s Trumpet Notes

“Oh, Holy Night,” Glenn Ledbetter and Nancy MacDonald

This Christmas Eve was much like all the many others in our home—we have our traditions: a fabulous meal; a program of prayer, readings, musical solos, Christmas carols; the opening of presents; and a “midnight” snack featuring familiar family fare. As usual, our local daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter shared it all with us. Normally, our grandson, Isaiah, would be present, also. This year, however, he is in South America! So we “made do” without his cheerful energy and wit. My wife and I played “Oh, Holy Night,” me on my Jupiter pocket trumpet and she on her Kawai piano. Our middle-school-aged granddaughter, our violist, played numerous songs from her school repertoire.

Granddaughter solos on her viola

Another tradition is that on Christmas morning, our relatives, the Kellys, drive over to our side of town for a visit—coffee or tea or apple cider and cookies. But this year, instead, we visited them at their condominium in downtown Edmonds. There, I played “Auld Lang Syne” on my Jupiter pocket trumpet, and we ate some of my wife’s wonderful oatmeal muffins as we talked and caught up on family news.

What could be better? Not much. But it would be nice to have all 9 grandkids and their parents show up at our home some Christmas Eve, wouldn’t it? It has not yet happened (hint, hint).

Please click on the photos (above, right) to enlarge them, and click on the video below to hear the first half of “Auld Lang Syne.”