Saturday night, Jeremy and myself, along with approx. 50 or so of our other church members, attended an awesome Brian Free and Assurance concert. The front rows were lined with young boys / teenage guys from our church. They are really getting into the "quartet thing." It was really great to see them enjoy something so much what we have loved for years and years and have invested time and money into such a hobby! And we're talking serious time and serious money! It's so funny to me to watch their eyes light up and hear them holler and whistle when the quartets do some pretty amazing things like......the bass singer rattles the walls with his low bass singing and Brian Free lifts the roof off with his high voice.
It was a special night for all of us because we got to witness one of the greatest events that could ever happen in one of those young fan's lives. His name is Bradley Mingledorff. He is our fill-in drummer at our church and likes being a clown. I think he's a good kid and has a great personality. Knowing what a fan of Assurance he is, what happened that night made us all smile and almost get as excited as he did.
Bradley turned 16 the day of the concert. His wish for his birthday was that all of his family come to the concert with him. So, his two brothers, mom, dad/stepmother, and grandmother all showed up. He had the time of his life singing along and hooting and hollering after each song. After intermission, Brian Free comes back to stage with a little white bag and picks it up and begins to tell the audience how it's Bradley's 16th birthday. And how proud he is to see all of the young boys so interested in their music.....and how easy it would have been for them to be anywhere else besides the front row of a gospel music concert. He then began to unload his little white bag, giving Bradley 2 new CD's, a signed picture of the group, and an autographed t-shirt for his birthday. Bradley was over the moon. Everyone was clapping and yelling and carrying on so......
And he thought he'd been handed the world. Unknown to him, it wasn't over yet.....at the end of the concert, as BF&A sang their last song, "King Jesus," they called Bradley to the stage to sing with him. He went over and shared a mic with Derrick Selph, the baritone, since that was his range. After a few seconds, Derrick Selph handed the mic to Bradley and he got to complete the song and the concert with BF&A. Talk about a birthday present. I'm not sure who was most excited, Bradley, or the entire crew of family and friends who got to witness it. I grabbed my camera out of my purse and got it turned on and rolling just in time to catch the last solo part of the night. And over and over again, I have watched and smiled about the excitement of Bradley Mingledorff's big moment and how much love was shown to a 16 year old who loves gospel music! What a night!
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