Music

I love, love music - most music. I love the feeling of being swept up in it & the music becoming a part of me. When I turned 8, grandma & Aunt Mayme decided that I should take piano lessons from Aunt Mayme. She taught me for about a year or until she couldn't take me any further. From her, I went to Mrs. Juliett or some name like that. Julie, Allan & I all took lessons from her. Not sure how long I stayed with her. I then took lessons from a lady in my ward. I can't think of her name. She taught me for awhile & for whatever reason I moved on to a different teacher (again, can't recall her name) on the other side of town that pushed me into becoming more than I thought I could be. These were lessons not like the others & I became pretty good. When I turned 16, I made a decision on my own - - no more lessons. Grandma & the teacher tried so hard to get me to go back. The teacher would call grandma & tell her there would be no charge for the lessons. She said I had a lot of talent & could go far if I would just stick with it. I didn't. I regret that decision to this day. I would like to know just how far I could have gone. Trying to make up for not continuing, I took private lessons when I attended BYU. I picked up in intensity from my last teacher at home. So not a total loss I suppose. I even tried a music major, which was so hard. I eventually dropped the major but kept the lessons. Somewhere in that sememster, grandpa had a heart attack & was in the hospital. I dropped everything & found a ride home. I did not pick up the lessons when I returned to school. I also was the pianist for primary when I was 16, for relief society at Ricks College & for our Chorus in Junior High. The thing I loved was being able to follow the conductor & that feeling was awesome! Especially with Mr. Watts at the Jr. High. He was a tough one that taught discipline. Grandma would have me play at family reunions which embarrassed me - wasn't hard to do at the time. And whenever company came over, I was asked to play a "tune or two". I played in Sacrament meetings & was the pianist for our ward choir in California. I learned much from that calling for sure. When Dale & I lived in California, I taught piano lessons for about a year. I had 4 or 5 students. It was a good experience for me. I found some confidence in the one talent I knew I had. While in high school, Melissa had an assignment where the family went to temple square to hear The Spoken Word. The Tabernacle Choir was amazing & that's a memory I'll always cherish! Seeing Jenni play the piano at a special recital with Jon Schmidt was a highlight! One thing that made my heart proud was seeing Melissa accompany the high schools choir during one of their concerts. Jason started lessons when he was 7 & continued right up to high school. His fingers still fly today! When Amber was attending Weber State University, she had to attend a concert for one of her classes. Bless her heart, she chose to see Mannheim Steamroller in Salt Lake City. We went to 2 concerts of theirs. My love of music increased ten fold!! Another experience with music was in Arkansas where Melissa, Jenni & I went to see RiverDance. Totally awesome! The music was incredible & then the dancing on top of it was a definite plus! All of my children have taken piano lessons - some stayed with it & others did not. And that's ok because at least they all gave it a shot. I've been to many piano recitals & proud of all of them. Back in the day I would turn my music up..really up & bask in it. I still do.