—by Balfour Knight

Just before the pandemic, I was asked to play my harp for the 99th birthday celebration of a nice man named John. He lived at a local retirement center that has easy access for unloading and moving a concert grand pedal harp, so I accepted the gig. 

His children made a list of some of his favorite songs, and I went prepared. As I was setting up the harp, my wife and I noticed John’s daughter putting candles on a very large birthday cake. I went over to her and asked, “Are you actually going to put 99 candles on this cake?” She laughed and said, “I am certainly going to try!”

People started to arrive, so I played background music for a while before they brought in John in his wheelchair. They parked him right beside me and my harp so he could hear and see well. He hummed along with his favorites, and finally his son came over to tell me I could take a little break while he welcomed everyone.

The son talked for about ten minutes while the daughter lit all 99 candles. Then she had everyone sing along to a couple of John’s favorite hymns as I played the harp. As the group was mid-stanza in a hymn, all of a sudden a team of firemen rushed in! The captain yelled, “Is everyone okay?” 

As we all quieted down, he explained that they had received an alarm that the building was on fire. The smoke alarm was directly above the 99 burning candles, setting it off. None of us heard the alarm because we were singing along with the harp.

The fire team was relieved the building was not on fire. John and his family invited them to stay and enjoy cake and ice cream with harp music, and everyone had a great time.

I did not get to play for John’s 100th birthday party; he passed away just before it, sadly. But I will always smile when I remember the 99th. •