I wrote that statement about a year ago when I was feeling sad about Jack finishing elementary school. Last night I was lying in bed, listening to the thunder and lamenting the fact that once again, things were coming to an end. Things that seemed like we'd be doing them forever, or at least for a while longer, have once again come and gone, run their course. Once again we went to the last "this" and did the last "that". Hence last night's insomnia and a melancholy feeling I couldn't seem to shake. The stormy weather didn't help, nor did my terrified dog, deathly afraid of thunder, who stood panting and trembling beside my bed.
Yesterday's "last" event was the kids' piano recital. Our wonderful piano teacher of seven years is moving away, a development that we could not have anticipated and thus were not exactly prepared for. I had envisioned many more years of Christmas sing-a-longs at her house, piano recitals in June at the church, Jack and Ella graduating from high school and having their final recitals as the senior students of Dr. Barr's piano studio.
Jack started piano lessons in first grade. His feet barely reached the floor when he sat on the piano bench and for the first two years, he struggled. Getting him to practice was a challenge and even when he asked for help he was not very good at accepting it. But somewhere during that third year something changed. The music part of his brain began clicking and his piano playing took off. He began to enjoy playing and practiced without being told. When it was Ella's turn to start lessons it seemed as if she'd already been taking them for years, perhaps learning by osmosis from attending Jack's lessons and recitals. I still remember our very first Christmas piano party, Jack and I playing a duet of Silent Night side by side on the piano bench at Dr. Barr's house, a curly haired four year old Ella standing beside me clutching her stuffed dog in a puffy pink carrier. It seems like yesterday.
I tried not to think about it last night as I watched them play: Jack in his blue bow tie, playing Beethoven with great finesse and Ella in her pretty dress, hair pulled back, concentrating mightily as she made her way through a Sound of Music medley. They looked so serious, so experienced, so . . . grown-up. I tried not to think about it. I'm sure their teacher felt the same way.
We will miss Dr. Barr but she will always hold a special place in our hearts, and I know Jack and Ella will hold a special place in hers. Her bio on her church's staff website ends with this statement: Current favorite quote: "I like watermelon, old people, cupcakes, and jello." Ella Russell, age 7; Dr. Barr's piano student. I think it's safe to say that our kids have had as much an impact on her life as she has had on ours.
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