Music and Memories

It was an ordinary day, months ago, when the thought pressed into me, "This is my children's childhood."

I've had the thought before, but looking back, it was always before my boys were really old enough to remember: Seth as a three year-old and Sam as an infant at a Kindermusik class, picking peaches at a U-pick farm, waiting in lines at Elitch Garden Amusement park in Denver. Moments I recognized as great memories with my children but ones that, most likely, I'll hold onto alone. Unless you're my dad, most people just don't remember life at one, three or even five years old. Glimpses, perhaps, but not the material you use to describe your childhood to your best friend in college or boyfriend - the ones who didn't know you when.

I was standing in the kitchen, fixing dinner, talking Seth through his spelling homework while the sound of Sam practicing the piano filled the background. That's when it hit me - that this was the sound of my past...my childhood. With six children who all took piano lessons, and with a piano situated prominently in the front room, next to the kitchen and front door, there weren't many after-school moments that didn't include the Baldwin piano being played. Someone might have been doing homework, or reading a book, or setting the table (I'd love to include "help making dinner" in my list, but that wasn't something we did - so sorry, Mom) but each of those tasks was usually done with piano accompaniment. School-piano-church: those were my family's normal, everyday things.

While it's true that Seth and Sam have only just started with piano lessons, and there is a whole lot of childhood left to fill, I can't help but hope that the moment I described is one that sticks. I want their pasts to be filled with good memories - simple memories - of someone at the table doing homework, another at the piano practicing, and another playing/cleaning/chatting with me in the middle of it all, directing. Oh, I anticipate there will be other great stuff too. I want our lives to be filled with great trips, meaningful service, sports, scouts, and maybe even farm animals. But, I really, really hope the piano threads through it all. I think I want it because it was my thing, just like Jay probably hopes for runners. Gymnasts probably want gymnasts, ranchers probably want little 4-Hers, and lake people probably want water skiers. We want our own best experiences for our children.

It's not hard to imagine my delight during Seth and Sam's first piano recital this past Sunday. As soon as their teacher approached me about the possibility, I eagerly encouraged her. Yes! I want my boys to perform in a recital. I want them to learn how to polish a song and I want them to learn how to perform in front of a group and I want them to develop grace under pressure. I couldn't have been more pleased with the results. The songs they came home with three weeks ago were harder than anything they had played before, but they learned them and eventually loved them, in spite of the initial frustration that comes with a challenge. They both peaked during the recital - never having played their music as well before, or since. I was so proud. Mama proud.

At the nursing home where their recital was held. I didn't take any still photos while they were playing so I made them sit at the piano afterward and show me their "form".



Sadly, I bungled the videotaping and none of their performances managed to come out unscathed. So, frustrating, but I hope there are lots and lots of next times. I did go to their lesson the following day and tried to capture a recording then, but the mood wasn't right and the result does not show off their accomplishment. Still, it'll give you a taste of how much they have learned in four months.

Seth playing "My Red Racer" - a duet with his teacher.



Sam playing "Downhill Racer" today - because the video I took at piano lessons was kind of a melt-down disaster.



Seth playing "Creepy, Crawly Things" with Sam singing the lyrics.