The news these days is often depressing at worst and frustrating at best. It’s easy to get caught up in the spin cycle and let it get us down. Never fear… The News Blender has you covered. Once a week we feature Something Good and, in return, all you have to do is tell us something good that has happened to you this week, something you are thankful for, a joke, a cute animal story, an inspiring tale of heroics, a Random Act of Kindness… SOMETHING good.
This week, fitting for Mother’s Day, we have a story about the innocence and unfiltered joy of a child.
Last week, concert-goers at the Boston Symphony Hall were enraptured by a performance of Mozart’s “Masonic Funeral Music”. As the last notes faded away, the voice of a young child broke the silence in the Hall with a simple and heartfelt “Wow!”
The audience laughed and clapped, no doubt feeling the innocent exclamation expressed their own enjoyment.
David Snead, president of the Handel and Haydn Society which was hosting the performance, quickly began a search for the child who provided what he called “the most wonderful moments” he had ever experienced in a concert hall.
The performance was being recorded for WCRB, Boston’s classical music station – so you can hear the sweet moment for yourself.
The “Wow!” Child that the internet has been searching for is nine-year-old Ronin Mattin, who attended the concert with his grandfather, Stephen Mattin. Ronin is on the autistic spectrum and, his grandfather says, expresses himself differently than other people. In fact, Stephen told WGBH, “I can count on one hand the number of times that he’s spontaneously ever come out with some expression of how he’s feeling,” which made this exclamation, and the reaction to it, particularly special.
Ronin, who lives in Kensington, New Hampshire, has been offered a copy of the concert recording and an opportunity to meet Harry Christophers, the conductor. Stephen Mattin says that Ronin is a huge fan of music and talked of nothing for weeks after the last concert they attended. Now Ronin is famous and has brought joy to a lot of people who are talking about him.
The innocence of a child seems like a fitting way to say “Happy Mother’s Day” to all our readers. May we all be uplifted by Ronin’s pure joy as we head into a new week.
Now it’s your turn… Tell me Something Good!
