Guitar Hero

As a kid Joe has always been musically inclined. He would always make sure that anywhere he went that he had to take his MP 3 player and headphones. Once the I pod came out Joe or as his mother called him Joey made sure that he saved up enough of the money he made from mowing his neighbors lawns so he could buy it. Joey loved music. He made sure he had as much music as possible to as many genres as possible as well. His mother Teresa always saw Joey walking around the house with his headphones in. She would always tell him, “If you keep those things in for too long they will rot your brain.” Joey would reply by saying “Ok Mom, just one more song.” Joey always looked forward to the weekends when he wasn’t mowing lawns because it was his time to go play video games with his cousins since his mom didn’t let him have any himself. Joey and his two cousins Manny and Dillion would play video games from the time they woke up to about five o’clock which was usually the time his mother told him to go home for dinner. Manny and Dillion always loved playing Madden or Call of Duty but Joey’s favorite game as you might’ve guessed it was Guitar Hero. Joey would always ask them if they could play it but Manny and Dillion would always  say, “Hold up after this game.” Joey just absolutely loved the game because he had always wanted to learn how to play an instrument but knew his parents wouldn’t buy him one and he didn’t have enough money himself from mowing lawns to buy one. So going to his cousins house every weekend and hoping they let him play Guitar Hero every once in a while was his only chance to play somewhat of an instrument. His favorite was when he would play the guitar. As it started getting closer and closer to winter all he could think of asking for Christmas was his own Guitar Hero game that he would be able to play at any time he wanted without the permission of his cousins. He would write it on his Christmas list ten times and give it to his parents to make sure they knew what he wanted. As Christmas started getting closer and as Joey started seeing presents under the tree he started checking around and seeing if the gifts were his and what they were. On Christmas morning he woke up as early as possible and ran to his parents room waking them up and telling them to hurry downstairs because it is Christmas morning. His parents told him, “Ok ok we are going. Let us take our time Joey.” Joey told them, I can’t wait, it’s Christmas morning and I need to see my gifts.” As they got downstairs Joey went straight for the gifts and looked around to see which ones had his name. Joey opened all his gifts but didn’t find a single one that had the Guitar Hero game that he had wanted so badly. You can see the sadness in poor little Joey’s eyes. Just as Joey gets up and starts heading to his room, his dad says, “Joey wait we got one more gift for you.” Joey says, “Really for me, what is it?” Joey’s father Rick tells him, “open it up Joey I think you’ll like it.” Joey tears the gift open as fast as he can and as soon as he sees it he seems disappointed and a bit surprised. His father asks him, “What is the matter buddy?” He says, “ Nothing dad I was just really hoping that it was Guitar Hero.” His dad tells him, “Well I thought this would be a better gift since it is the real thing. Your very own guitar.” Joey replies, “I mean yea dad it is pretty cool but I mean I don’t even know how to play this and what if I’m not good at it.” His dad says, “Well you can learn how to play it. I just thought you would be happy since I know you love music so much.” Joey replies, “Ok dad you have a point. Thank you guys so much I really appreciate it.” Later on that evening, Joey’s grandparents came over for dinner and Joey couldn’t wait to see if they brought any presents for him. When they got there they gave Joey his gift and couldn’t believe his eyes. It was exactly what he wanted, Guitar Hero. Joey was so happy that he finally got the only Christmas gift that he really wanted this year. After that Joey would play that game all the time. It was his favorite thing to do and he couldn’t get enough of it. As the years passed Joey played Guitar Hero more and more and seemed to forget about his actual guitar that his parents bought him. In the spring of 2020 Joey and his family hear about the deadly virus of Covid-19 and how we must stay in quarantine. He wonders what he will do with all this free time. His parents tell him, “What about learning how to play that guitar we got you a while back.” Joey says, “Ok mom and dad I’ll see how that goes.” He goes around and looks through his old stuff again. There he finds his guitar and one of his all time favorite games Guitar Hero. Just like when he was a kid, Joey decides to take on the hobby of playing Guitar Hero instead of learning how to play the actual guitar. A few weeks pass when suddenly Joey’s family learns that his father Rick, somehow caught the deadly coronavirus. His family is shocked and super scared. They do their best and take up all the recommended precautions but it doesn’t seem to be enough. So they end up taking his father Rick to the hospital so they can try and help. After a couple days, take a fall for the worst and Joey’s dad Rick passes away. The family is absolutely saddened and devastated by the outcome of their father’s fight with the deadly virus. The death hits Joey especially hard because his father was like his best friend and someone he had always looked up to and wanted to be like. Joey sits at home all day wondering and thinking why this could happen. He ends up stumbling upon the guitar that his father had bought him for Christmas. He decides to pick it up and give it a try. What happens next is almost as crazy and surprising as you can ever imagine. Joey seems to be an absolute natural. He shows his mother and when she hears him play it she comes to tears. She tells him, “Your father always knew that you would be amazing with that.” Joey replies, “I wish I could’ve been smarter to pick it up while he was still here.” Joey then asks his mom, “Hey mom do you think I can play him something at his funeral.” Teresa says, “Of course honey. I’m sure that he would love that.” For the next two days Joey stays locked up in his room learning how to play new music with his guitar. He spends hours and hours on one song in particular which was “Even though I’m Leaving” by Luke Combs. Joey and his father loved that song and would play and listen to it all the time. The day of the funeral came and it was time for Joey’s big surprise. Joey pulled out his guitar and played the song for his father in front of all his family members and friends. After he finished you can hear them cheer him on and tell him how wonderful it was. Most of them in tears, knew that it was amazing and was just wonderful. From that day on, Joey never let that guitar leave his side. He made sure to keep it around him at all times because he knew that his father was in that guitar and was right next to him always.