There was once a little boy who had not a care in the world. He didn’t live in the best side of town. Here were houses in ruins, violence in the air. This didn't matter to him at all because he had his family. It was a sunny yet cool day on the southside of Milwaukee. Juan made his way down the uneven stone path with his sister, walking to their grandpa’s garage.

They passed the family’s dogs that were barking like mad men. The dogs barking caused him to laugh, but it stopped once Mixtli yelled at them to be quiet. The boy looked confused because he never understood why she always yelled at them. As he entered the dirty garage, he saw all the rusted tools, the broken-down car, and stacks of old newspaper. He continued to walk up the stairs, then stopped.

A sweet sound filled the air. The boy hurried up the stairs to continue to hear this wonderful noise. When he got upstairs, he could see was his grandfather singing while playing pool. “Tano, estoy aqui.” the boy exclaimed as his smile grew with every second.

“Hola, hijo! Como estas?” His grandfather walked over to where he was standing to give him a hug.

As the song progressed Juan began to move his feet. “Mimi, baila conmigo?”

“Si, Juan, vamanos.” As they danced to the rhythm of the song Juan thought about how he never had felt this much joy. His grandfather soon seen him dancing to the rhythm of the song. “Hijo le gusta bailar?”

“Si, Tano, yo me gusta.”

That is when an idea went off in the grandfather’s head. He picked up a strange object that Juan hadn’t seen before. It had strings, it was brown, and it looked shiny.

He started to strum the strings.

“Para bailar La Bamba

Para bailar La Bamba

Se necessita una poca de gracia

Una poca de gracia

Para mi, para ti, ay arriba, ay arriba”

Juan continued to move his feet, but his eyes were glued to the weird object. “Tano, que es?”

“Mijo, es un guitarra. Te gusta?”

“Si.”

“Quieres aprender a jugar?”

“Si!”

His grandfather moved the guitar in front of Juan. Juan began to strum the strings, fascinated by how the guitar worked. Over time, his love for music grew and grew. It didn't matter where he was because it was music that brought him happiness. One thing he could always count on was music. It felt as if everything bad was washed away. Dancing around with his family brought joy to his heart.