14 Years of Music

When Hannah was almost three, I started searching out music programs. We originally chose Funderful World of Music because it was a class setting that I sat in with her and came highly recommended by a friend. Hannah was the middle child at the time and I wanted something that gave me one on one time with her and she could start learning the piano. What I found happening was her love for music increasing and her talents developing. The teacher, Ms. Pam, became more than a teacher - she became a part of our family. Even after the older girls graduated from the program, they couldn't move on to another private teacher. Ms. Pam comes into every class with cheerfulness and love for music and spills it over into the children. I have seen her take a classroom of unruly boys and settle them with her songs. She comes into her classes as a wife and mom with burdens of her own and never lets on that there is anything other than that class room of children.

A year or two later Rachel started a class for children her age and thus began years of Thursday afternoon music. We took one year off, but have added the younger girls at the appropriate age for each of them and as God would have it, the classes are still on Thursdays. The first class we went to we learned "Sayonara" and have sung it at the end of every class all these years. It's a sweet good bye song that has bowing motions and the mom gets a big hug at the end of the song every week. After Mary's recital last Thursday, Lydia's class met for their regular lesson so our whole family sat in on her class time. In a class of ten children with one parent each, our family stood out like a sore thumb. Ms. Pam introduced all of the girls, included them in some of the class games and asked Sarah to play "Carol of the Bells". At the end of the class period we all sang Sayonara. I was surprised at how special that would be to have all five girls and Ray bowing, singing and waving good-bye to our friends.

My eyes well up as I think of how special those music times are to our family and what music has done for us all. In our home it's not uncommon for one of the girls to call out to a sister, "Come play with me." (That means music.) Fourteen years later and several other instruments added, their music is not only recognizable, but beautiful. The most worn place in our home is where the piano sits and I can't say how blessed our home is because of that. And as I type this, two of the girls are practicing to play in a wedding in December.

The pictures above are - the traditional recital picture with Ms. Pam; Ray helping Lydia in the group lesson; Ms. Pam with the children gathered around the piano; and all five girls goofing off on the keyboards. They thought it would be a lot of fun for us to have five keyboards at home. After a few minutes, I was glad that we didn't.