My Saxy Date by Alexa

My Saxy Date by Alexa - February 2016 Scholarship Essay

Dear Mason,

I don’t blame you for not showing up for our date that we spent multiple days planning to go on, only because one of the best things in my life had happened that wouldn’t have happened had you shown up. Here, you had me get all dressed up and make reservations at that fancy restaurant downtown and to meet you there, but you never showed. I waited an entire hour until I figured that you were just not coming. On any other regular day, I would have been beyond upset with someone for standing me up like that, but I’m not. You see, since you didn’t show up and I was all alone sitting at a booth, sobbing erratically into my napkin, like a damsel in distress, when a gentleman came over and sat down in the seat across from me.

It took me a moment to blink away the tears in my eyes in order to focus at the tall, dark figure sitting before me. Once my eyes were free of tears, I saw a man with dark mussed hair with a couple of balding spots, scruffy beard, and a long black peacoat, and that's when I realized that the man sitting in front of me with a sly smile on his face was the one and only Adolphe Sax. Had you shown for our date, you would have heard me talk about Adolphe Sax being my favorite historical figure. It was perfect moment that you would never encounter.

To be honest, I think you’d be quite taken if you got a chance to meet Mr. Sax, just as I was. He has been through more in his life than anyone else I have ever known. You may be wondering who he is, so I would be honored to tell you that he is the inventor of the tenor saxophone, which I would have told you that the tenor saxophone is a big deal in my life. I’ve been playing it for six years through many concerts and festivals. Without the saxophone, there is no way I would be doing what I’ve been doing these glorious six years.

As we sat, he told me about his life and all of his near death experiences. As a child, he fell from a height of three floors and hit his head on a stone, drank a large bowl of vitriolic water, seriously burnt himself from a gunpowder explosion, burnt one side of his body by falling onto a hot cast iron frying pan, survived poisoning and suffocation, was hit on the head with cobblestone, and nearly drowned in a river. After all of those misfortunes, he still managed to survive in order to invent the saxophone and other instruments like the tuba, french horn, and baritone. Imagine music today without those instruments. Because he was able to survive all of that during his childhood and he is the oldest of eleven kids, made me believe that he is one of the luckiest people in the world and I am glad to call him my favorite historical figure.

Thank you for helping me set up this date. I actually had a lot of fun talking to Adolphe and getting to know him. Imagine if you had shown up and ruined everything. I never would have had a chance to meet him and hear his stories. I guess its best that you didn’t have the guts to come then. Thank you again for unwillingly setting us up, that is something I can never say enough or even repay you for, and take care!

Yours truly,
No longer lonely girl.