"To give someone a blessing is the most significant affirmation we can offer." - Henri Nouwen
Andor Foldes first recollection was at seven: his father kissed and thanked him for helping in the garden. Foldes remembers it decades later, as though it were yesterday. Again at sixteen, while in Budapest. Foldes already a skilled pianist at the time, was asked by Emil von Sauer to play for him. Foldes obliged the master. When he finished, Sauer walked over to him and kissed him on the forehead. "My son," he said, "when I was your age I became a student of Liszt. He kissed me on the forehead after my first lesson, saying, 'Take good care of this kiss -- it comes from Beethoven, who gave it me after hearing me play.' I have waited for years to pass on this sacred heritage, but now I feel you deserve it."
I wish there were some way to effectively communicate the incredible blessing which affirming
