[naviga:h2]The Picture Perfect Christmas[/naviga:h2]

Christmas at primary schools is always an exciting time. Preparation for the annual Christmas programme, anticipation of the holidays and, of course, the arrival of the man in the red suit still sends the little ones into a frenzy.

Then, a call came that stunned me and promised to send the Christmas spirit in our building into the stratosphere.

"Mr. Tuzo," the woman said excitedly when I answered the phone. "This is Heather, Headly's wife." (Headly Tucker was our school's music teacher). I need to know whether or not you would agree to a surprise visit at school on Friday morning from one of my husband's old college roommates and close friends. They have not seen or talked to each other in over ten years."

"Not a problem, Heather," I responded without hesitation. "What part do you want the school to play in this surprise?"

"Nothing really, but I must warn you, this is not an ordinary friend I am speaking about," she said with a chuckle.

"Rrrreally!" I exclaimed suspiciously.

"Another thing Mr. Tuzo, Stevie does not want anyone, and I mean ANYONE, including my husband to know about this pending visit.

"He will be arriving by private jet on Thursday morning and will be leaving in the early afternoon onto Barbados where he is performing at a Christmas concert tomorrow night. So the window for the visit will be tight," she continued.

"Hang on," I said hurriedly.

But she just talked over me and said, "The best that I can estimate is that he will arrive at your site at or around 10 a.m. in a limo."

"Time out!" I interrupted loudly. "Slow down, and tell me who we are talking about."

"Mr.Tuzo," she retorted with a burst of laughter, "I thought that I mentioned to you earlier that the friend is STEVIE WONDER."

"Who Stevie Wonder?" I grunted stupidly.

"THE Stevie Wonder!" she emphasized with rolling laughter.

Still in my stupid phase, I gulped, stammered, and then fell deathly silent.

"Mr. Tuzo, Mr. Tuzo, are you still there?" No answer from the stupid end of the phone.

"Ah, um, yeah, still here," I said VERY quietly. "Are, are you serious about this visit on Thursday?" I managed to say coherently.

"Headly has never mentioned anything about being a friend of Stevie's," I said, finally able to get my equilibrium back in order.

"No, he wouldn't say anything to you about that time in his life. To be honest with you," she said seriously, "they had a creative falling out some years ago. Things were said, feelings were hurt, and being pig-headed men as they are, they parted company, each blaming the other for the rift."

"So why do you think Stevie has suddenly reached out all the way to Bermuda?" I asked.

"I don't know," she responded. "All he would say to me was, 'I miss my friend. I need to reconnect with my friend. I have a Christmas surprise for my friend AND you are not to say anything to him about my visit.'" In closing, she reminded me, "Mr. Tuzo, TWO people know about this visit; you and me, and it must remain that way until he shows up at school."

She paused, then said, "and that includes pillow talk." She laughed and hung up the phone.

I sat at my desk, just pondering the phone call. Santa, Kwanza and Stevie Wonder. Christmas at West End Primary just got a whole lot better. I laughed loudly.

The night before the visit I could hardly contain myself. I couldn't eat. I was walking around grinning like a crazy man. Finally, while getting ready for bed, I told my wife about the visit. After a stunned silence, she screeched, hit me for not telling her earlier, then ran to the closet to find something to wear.

"Kid," I said, "sorry, but this is a closed event, so you are not invited to the occasion."

Her response was a long stream of expletives, pause, and then louder expletives. The last sound for the night was the slamming of the closet door.

Heather called my house at about 7.30 a.m. to tell me that the plane was on route and should be at the airport by 9 a.m. The limosine will deliever him to school at or about 10 a.m. I told her that we will be in assembly and that my wife will meet her at the main door to escort the travelling party to the hall. We were in the midst of singing Christmas carols when suddenly the man himself materialized in the doorway. The piano stopped playing and a stunned silence engulfed the room. Then a cacophony of noise and cheering began.

Ms. Heyliger was the first teacher to react by suddenly rushing across the hall. Before I could stop her, Stevie's security had halted her progress. I looked across at my music teacher who had not left his perch. A bewildered glance was exchanged with his wife, and he then switched his gaze toward his old friend. He still remained rooted to his bench. Suddenly a lovely young lady emerged from the cluster of people at the door and made her way toward Mr. Tucker. The big smile that she displayed on her face told me that it was Stevie's daughter.

He slowly rose from the bench and they tightly embraced. The school was cheering and applauding their consent at this gesture. She slowly led him to her father who, by this time, was now in the center of the hall. Mr. Tucker took his friend's hands in his and with tears in his eyes he reached forward and hugged his old friend. The entourage stepped back to allow this moment to occur. The adults in the room finally realized that something special was happening before them, and without anyone uttering a word, the room grew quiet. The two friends broke their embrace. Finally, in a choking voice, Stevie turned and spoke to all assembled.

"Young people, standing before you, are two friends who years ago allowed business decisions to severely disrupt their friendship. Your music teacher, my best friend, was and is as talented a music person as I am. He is a profound song writer. If you can believe it, he is a better piano player than I am, and possesses a singing voice that rivals anyone singing today."

He paused. "Years ago we co-wrote and produced a Christmas album. For various selfish and legal reasons the album was never released. It was a very public and nasty outing of our affairs."

At this point Stevie put his arm around his friend's shoulder and continued. "I stand here today in front of all of you asking my good friend, Headly, to forgive me for being such a jerk all those years ago."

Mr. Tucker, too emotional to verbally respond, squeezed his friend's arm.

"As a tribute to my friend, and with his permission, I would like to do two things before I have to leave."

Unsure, Mr. Tucker looked at his wife, who nodded positively back to him. The chaperone nudged Stevie to continue. "First, to inform my friend that the Christmas CD entitled, 'A Picture Perfect Christmas', that we collaborated on will be released here in Bermuda today. It will be released worldwide tomorrow."

"Second, and with the help of my friend on the piano, I would like to sing one of the four original songs that YOUR teacher, Mr. Tucker, wrote for the CD; if that's okay with you all," he shouted.

The answer was a resounding YES! Stevie turned to his friend and whispered something to him. The two old friends touched foreheads and then walked toward the piano.

Like the other adults in the room, I was mesmerized by what was occurring before our eyes. For the first time since his arrival, I looked around the NOW jam-packed hall. Where did all these people come from? Ah, the magic of cell phones!!! Mr. Tucker stood up from behind the piano to indicate that they were ready to begin. Like a fog settled over PHC field, a hush engulfed the room.

Stevie had his harmonica in his hand. The piano introduction began. Then Stevie and Mr. Tucker began to sing 'A Picture Perfect Christmas'.

This Bermudian and his iconic friend sang like they had never been apart. When their melodic voices soared to the heavens, they took us along with them. When the voices went deep, its resonance was the most virile sound in the world. When the harmonica and piano intertwined musically, we were all captured by the intensity and intricacies of their playing. When they laughed at their improvisations, we laughed and clapped along with them. The two lost friends had been reunited.