It's interesting how much time is spent just thinking while I am in recovery from this back surgery. After reading many unimportant books and watching lots of unimportant TV I also occasionally will just sit and ponder. I was listening to some Mozart the other day and remembering many hours of hearing my daughter practice her flute. I miss that.
I also miss the busyness of early morning practicing. There was a time when every morning would be filled with strains of piano, violin, flute, drum pad, trumpet and later saxophone and clarinet and more flute and more trumpet and more piano and guitar. Music filled our home for countless hours for many years. I loved it and I miss it.
My hope was that each of our 10 children would learn to play the piano well enough to be serviceable and able to play hymns at church if needed. We also wanted our children to have the opportunity of enjoying music. They almost all went through the school band or orchestra programs and we attended lots of concerts. Marching band was also a big deal when our children went to Mountain Crest High School in Hyrum. Utah. There was even Mariachi Band when we lived in Los Fresnos, Texas.
Moving from Utah to Texas changed the dynamics of music in our home. Piano lessons were so much more expensive and bartering for lessons became a thing of the past. Sadly our younger children were not able to take piano lessons and my efforts to teach them usually resulted in tears. But somehow through band they learned to love music and even played a little piano.
Our old upright piano, a gift from my mother, served us well for many years. I enjoyed hearing our children practice and I also enjoyed playing duets for flute, trumpet and violin with some of our children. We also sang around the piano. Of course as the children grew up and moved away the piano was often quiet. Then when we prepared to serve our mission in Australia and needed to store our furniture we found a new home for the piano where other children could learn to play and enjoy it.
Reflecting on my own musical journey brings many, many memories. I became the recipient of my mother's wish to play the piano. She never had that opportunity but wanted her children to have that privilege. As immigrants trying to find our way in the world, money was not plentiful. But my father was truly amazing! Going along with my mother's dream for us to play the piano, he used his ingenuity to provide a way.
One day he procured an old ornate pump organ from an elderly woman who had no further use for it. He stripped out the keyboard and the pump mechanism and got rid of the wooden cover. I wish someone had had the foresight to take photos of the process. But my mind remembers. He built a plain wooden box with a place for the key board. Inside the box he arranged the bellows and all that was needed to allow the keys to be played. He found a small vacuum which he attached to the bellows. When we wanted to play the "piano" we had only to plug in the vacuum cord and the keys became alive. So, at the ripe old age of 9, I had my first "piano" and lessons to learn to play.
When I was 12 years old our family actually got our first real piano. It was beautiful and a wonderful surprise when we moved to our new home. Then I could learn to play staccato notes and learn the touch of actual piano keys as opposed to the soft touch of the organ. I took lessons a few more years but never became really proficient. My father often requested that I play La Paloma which was a favorite of his. My sister and brother far surpassed my ability although I was always pretty good at sight reading. I have always loved music. It was a gift my parents gave me in a rather unorthodox manner.
Not all of our children have continued to use their musical talents but all have an enjoyment of music. One of our sons is a composer and a music engineer in his home studio. Several of our children and grandchildren are proficient in various aspects of music, the guitar, voice and various instruments. There is a continuous thread of the musical enjoyment running through our family. My children saw to it that I have a nice electric piano in my home which I do play from time to time; and the grandchildren take full advantage when they visit. It makes me happy.
And now when I want to listen to music I just have to say " Alexa, play Mozart" or whatever I am in the mood to hear and it plays throughout my home for my enjoyment. Grateful thanks to my mother and my innovative father for my musical journey and the legacy they left their posterity.
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