I’m not
much of a television watcher... I know, I know, but honestly, I don’t really
miss it. I love to read. And travel. And read about traveling. I’ve also
discovered that anything really good that others insist I must see, I can
usually find online. That’s how I found this commercial.
This
might need to be the 2018 Christmas
filter that all gift buying needs to pass through. Do a search for “Elton John
Christmas Commercial” and take two and a half minutes of your life to just
absorb the message. You don’t have to be an Elton John fan (OK, I’m a big fan)
to appreciate the talent of this artist, and if you’ve been alive in the last
60 years you will admit what an amazing entertainer he is and how he has a
legacy that other piano players just imitate.
The
commercial is the product of John Lewis & Partners, high end department
stores in the UK. Every Christmas, people watch for the annual advertisement
and discuss it, sort of like we Americans chat about the Super Bowl ads. The
promotion begins with Sir Elton John at an upright piano as he begins to play
the first notes of his famous 70’s hit “Your Song”. From there the video goes
in reverse, spanning Sir Elton John’s career of concerts and parties and events
with the haunting song connecting the scenes.
Get ready to grab a tissue as we
see a young John at a school recital with his mom offering encouragement from
the audience. The final images take viewers to a past Christmas where little
Elton discovers a gift wrapped piano from his mom and grandmother. His child fingers
find the same keys as the 71 year artist. (sniff) Of course, this was the gift
that forever changed his life. And to make sure we get it, the words “Some
gifts are more than just a gift” centers simply as the pianist closes the piano
lid. (Just take a moment to bawl...like I did.)
Now take
another moment and think if you ever gave a gift that might have been a life
changer. Follow this deep thinking to ponder if you ever received a gift that
was “more than just a gift”. I got a pair of spurs. I was probably around 13
years old. As a farm girl, I had started showing my horse and entering riding
competitions. I asked for a fancy pair of slip-on spurs for Christmas that I
had circled in the western catalog. They weren’t something I needed, like the yearly pajamas, or
something expected, like a game to
share with my much older sister, the spurs were an investment in me. My parents
were saying to me, ‘we believe in you...this is something you can do.’
Fast
forward in my crazy life and you will know that I didn’t wind up an equestrian
icon. But looking back, I have wound up spending a lot of my life wearing spurs...
entertaining as my alter ego Willamae. They aren’t the same fancy spurs, they
were my dad’s, but it strikes me a little bit funny. It’s amazing how a
seemingly insignificant gift (at the time) can affect someone. For another
instance, husband Doug got a magic kit at age 12. It was more than a gift as he
has made a career as a professional magician.
Sigh. I
guess I’m feeling a bit nostalgic as we head into Christmas. Thinking about
giving more than just a gift. Maybe I need to note that John Lewis Department
stores have started selling pianos again.
