In the final book of “The Lord of the Rings,” the hobbit Frodo finds himself trudging across the sunless wasteland of Mordor, all but certain he’ll fail in his quest to hurl “the one ring to rule them all” into the fires of Mount Doom.
My 11-year-old son Lucca and I are immersed in the battle to save Middle-earth from the evil Sauron and his legions of orcs — so I’ve got Tolkien on the brain. I’m on another journey with Lucca — less perilous but, to my mind, no less difficult.
Lucca plays the violin. If you’ve read my occasional column on fatherhood, you’ll know he takes lessons from the marvelous Vannia Phillips at the Music Institute of Chicago. Sometimes, when I have to beg Lucca to practice, I remind him how lucky he is — and how I wish my parents had given me violin lessons.
