This is important -- not just for his parents, not because he is my son's friend, not even because he happens to be a bright, caring human being. 

All of that is true. But the significance of this event, to me, is that it is proof positive that parental involvement matters. 

A thousand years ago, Michael's mother decided that our children needed to write, produce and act in plays. Their first production was "A Stone in the Road." That first performance ( not to mention the tape of that performance) was excruciating. 

Never mind. Ours was an adult perspective. What did the children learn? 

That they were loved. That there were people who believed in them. That, with enough preparation and coincident timing (was that Johnson's or Pepys' definition of "luck"?) they might accomplish anything. They were nine children who were praised and encouraged, as they were also sensibly advised and critiqued. And, because they knew -- on some primitive brainstem level -- that they were loved, they could accept the advice and/or the critique.

Tonight, the cup is definitely half-full, perhaps even overflowing.