NORTH MANKATO — For teenager Journie Pickett, it was an existential crisis.
Could she, after the misfortune that had befallen her, still believe that people are inherently good?
This is what happened: Pickett was a few hours away from trying out for her school talent show. She’d practiced. She had her song ready. She was set.
Then a classmate at Dakota Meadows Middle School stumbled into her guitar, accidentally breaking it. To make matters worse, his apology was what she regarded as a half-hearted, passing “my bad.”
The brief exchange left Pickett feeling even lower than she felt when she realized her guitar — so beloved she had painted on it — was toast.
What to do? First she survived the talent show audition using a guitar borrowed from the school’s choir teacher. She made the cut singing and playing her favorite song, “Rises the Moon,” by Liana Flores.
Next, her family had to decide whether they would replace her guitar or pay the bills.
The decision didn’t weigh on them for long, however. Good Samaritans heard of Pickett’s plight and came forward to give her a long unused, but cherished, guitar of theirs.
And then, for Pickett, the light started to shine again.
“I was super excited,” she said. “I almost cried. I was really, really happy and I was really glad that someone out there wanted to give me something. That boy never really apologized to me so that felt bad, but now someone was doing something kind for me. It was sweet and nice.”
The good Samaritans in this story are Barbara and Larry Dunker, of North Mankato. Barbara said it was an easy, quick decision to donate their Sigma guitar with a stand and a case to Pickett.
The guitar cost $180 in 1972, Barbara recalls, and has certainly appreciated in value since then. Her favorite part was handing it off to Pickett.
“It was good,” she said. “Journie was excited and she was teary and the best part was, I knew it was in good hands. She wanted to open up the case right away and she asked, ‘Can I play it?’ I said of course, it’s yours. And she plays well.”
The key connecting point between Pickett and the Dunkers was Jamie Linnemon, building principal secretary at Dakota Meadows. She was aware of Pickett’s situation and reached out to the Dunkers, figuring Barbara might be part of the solution.
“I thought of Barb right away,” Linnemon said. “I’ve known her for many years and I knew she was musical and her family was musical. And now with her working at The Music Mart, I thought of her and her connections and how she is as a person. I knew if she couldn’t help she would know somebody who would be able to help us find a donated guitar for Journie.”
Barb received the inquiry and immediately checked with her husband about donating their unused guitar. It needed some repairs so she brought it into The Music Mart and got it fixed before recently handing it off to Pickett.
Pickett said her new guitar is easier to play than her old one. The eighth grader is a self-taught guitarist. She borrowed her older sister’s guitar at first, having gotten interested in the instrument after coming across a video of a girl playing.
“I thought, that sounds really nice,” she said. “I want to do that.”
She’s become so smitten that she aspires to become a professional musician. Her current idol is Filipina-British singer-songwriter beabadoobee.
Linnemon said the lesson learned from Pickett’s experience is to be resilient.
“I would say follow your heart,” she said, “and your passion and even if something doesn’t go how you would expect, whether it be an instrument breaking or an audition that doesn’t go your way, there are good people in the world. Someone is always rooting for you, even if you don’t know them.”
Pickett’s school talent show is coming up in May, which is when she will perform “Rises the Moon” for the masses. For her, the lesson learned from this journey is one of patience.
“Good things will come,” she said. “It’s only a matter of time before things get better. There’s always a good outcome to anything. And keep God first and pray. He’ll open up avenues for you.”