Dueling Banjos

This last Christmas, Wil asked Santa for $45,000 to be applied to his debit card. "Do you want $45,000, too? I can ask him for $90,000," he told me, certain it was as simple as that. "I also asked him for two banjos, one for me and one for Stan--we can play 'Dueling Banjos.'"

This desire to play "Dueling Banjos" was repeated numerous times. Santa wasn't sure what to do about it, or the $45,000 x 2. Despite Wil's reiterating of the wants, both to us and Santa (via email) in the end, he received $45 in cash, with a note that said, "I don't work with banks, but here is $45." Santa tried to track down two reasonably priced banjos. He went to used instrument stores and looked online, but the cheapest he could find at the time, were over $200/each. Santa got creative and gave him two $35 ukuleles with a note saying, "Banjos are hard to learn, please practice with a ukulele and then we can talk about a banjo."

Despite the fact that he got a purple ukulele (his favorite color) and Stan got a red one (his favorite color), Wil was not pleased, to say the least. He tried to be gracious, but his disappointment was obvious, and you could see the wheels turning--he was looking for a work-around. "I already know how to play a banjo, Uncle Jack taught me, I've known for a long time how to play a banjo. Santa must have forgotten that Uncle Jack used to take lessons, and he taught me everything he knew."

Yes, Uncle Jack did take banjo lessons. No, while Jack was alive, he never taught Wil.

But the veil is extra-thin these days, and it's totally possible that Wil and Jack have been having banjo lessons in the astral plane. While that might sound a little out there to a lot of people, I am believing such things more and more these days, and more and more, it gives me great hope. 

A few days ago Stan, Wil and I were in the car, and he casually mentioned that Devohn (the Easter Bunny--you remember him, right?) would be bringing him two banjos for Easter. It had been confirmed via email, and he was counting the days. 

"I didn't know the Easter Bunny brought gifts," Stan commented, "he doesn't usually, does he?" 

"He's going to this year," Wil answered with total confidence. Stan and I looked at each other with a knowing that yes, with everything that's been cancelled for Wil, indefinitely, including his favorite three-day celebration of Easter in the Church, Devohn would be finding a way to get the boy two banjos. "He's going to bring us each a pick, too."

It occurred to Devohn's helper that eBay might be a good source, and one that had not been previously considered. Devohn's helper doesn't know one single thing about banjos, not even what type of "pick" is used, but Google proved helpful and orders were placed. 

Wil is not concerned with the details--those are all up to Santa, and if he doesn't pull it off, he goes to the next source on his list. He has utter belief that his desires are heard and will come to fruition. 

Believe in magic.