Monday, June 28, 2010

Perfect Moment Monday -- Life Long Teachers

Each week I participate in Perfect Moment Monday, sponsored by the blog, WeeblesWobblog.com. According to Weebles, "Perfect Moment Monday is about noticing a perfect moment rather than creating one. Perfect Moments can be momentous or ordinary or somewhere in between." And so, here is a Perfect Moment for this week.

I started playing the piano around the age of four. My Mom was my first teacher until some time in elementary school, I started taking "official" private lessons from the same woman who taught my older sister, Lori. My piano teacher's name was Mrs. D.

To give you an idea of how much she loves music, Mrs. D has two grand pianos in her living room (and had knocked out a wall to fit them both in the L-shaped room). The two pianos face each other so two pianists can easily look at each other while playing a two-piano duet.

My piano playing abilities now probably do not reflect the number of years that I took lessons or the quality of the teacher. But I do enjoy playing every once in a while and am amazed that my fingers and brain still remember how to cooperate and play music.

A couple of weeks ago while I was visiting home, I had learned that Mrs. D (who is now in her '90s) was moved into an assisted living home. My sisters and I decided to go visit her.

We had less than twenty minutes, which we knew would not be enough time, but it was important to go see her and enjoy any time we had with her.

When we walked in, Mrs. D was sitting comfortably in a recliner in her room.  As we walked in, she held her hands up to us, glanced from one face to the next and engulfed us with a look of love.

"Three angels just walked in to see me," she smiled.

We spent time catching up -- how are the kids, what are you doing, etc. -- and made sure to tell her that we only had limited time to spend with her.

As my sister, Lori, announced that we needed to leave, Mrs. D said, "Please just stay two more minutes."

Lori quickly responded, "We can stay long enough for a short song." Smiling, I knew exactly which song, Dona Nobis, a three-part song that we recently sang and posted over Christmas.

It was more difficult for me to sing this time because I felt so emotional. It wasn't sad...but more inspired and touched by this lovely lady who had taught me so much...and the beauty of the moment.

As we ended our song, she smiled, held each of our hands to her cheeks and closed her eyes.

I was engulfed in the magic of this Perfect Moment.

Thank you, Mrs D, for being such an inspiration for my love of music and for being so wonderful to me as I opened my heart and my life to music.

It was truly a Perfect Moment!

If you'd like to check out more Perfect Moment Mondays go to Weebles Wobblog by clicking here.

Photo from: www.photobucket.com.  



7 comments:

Rachel said...

Wow this story really touched my heart..... what an awesome memory you will have of this wonderful lady

Loralie said...

What a sweet gift you gave to her by visiting and treating her with the fruits of her labors! I'm sure that gave her a wonderful sense of fulfillment, which must be a great feeling at that stage in life.

Suzy, Not a Fertile Myrtle said...

Oh that is beyond perfect. Just think how much you must have brightened her day with those three lovely voices.

I'm sure you were such a blessing to her!

~visiting from PMM

Quiet Dreams said...

Such a beautiful moment.

Lori Lavender Luz said...

That was such an emotional moment. I realized then what a shorthand I share with you and Tami, in that you would instantly know which song I was talking about.

Her love and openness, always strong, had never been more evident than that day.

We should return when we can. Got another 3-part-harmony song?

Phoebe said...

What a wonderful story. I'm so glad you were able to connect again with this teacher and give back to her the gifts of what she had taught you.

Kristin said...

What a truly perfect moment...you three lovely and phenomenal ladies paying tribute to another amazing lady.