To the Woman Who Taught Me to Play Piano

For Sharon Hawley

Dear piano teacher,

You meant so much to me in my childhood, but even more so to me as an adult. In my ever-changing home life, you were my constant. As I moved from house to house and switched schools, your home, your patience, and your love was always the same. I needed that, and I thank you.

It never occurred to me until recently, but I could read music before I could read my own native English, and that I owe to you. To this day, twenty years later, I remember my first piano lesson. You showed me the keys, and when you finished, I asked you, “But where are H, I, and J?” You laughed, delighted at my innocence. In your house I began as a 4’ tall 5 year old with no interest in the keys, and I grew in every way to a lanky 18-year-old with a vast love and adoration for music.

Dear piano teacher, I thank you for giving me lessons, even when my family had forgotten to pay you for weeks. Your graciousness taught me more than you will ever know. You trusted my family, and you always gave us a chance to pay you the following week. And when we finally caught up, it seemed that we were behind again. But you didn’t care about money. You wanted to give me a musical education despite anyone’s finances.

Thank you for having faith in my talent when I was eleven but played with the skill level of a 7-year-old. Thank you for your patience during those rocky years. It was because of your faith in me, that merely two years after that,  at thirteen I played at the level of someone much older. At recitals, I was your intro, playing simplified versions of the greats for years. It seemed like I was never going to improve. And then seemingly overnight I became the finale, taking the place of all your students I had looked up to before. Sometimes you let me arrange my own pieces, and again your faith in my creativity meant the world to me. I thought it was so cool when you let me combine a Broadway tune with a Christmas piece and let me call it “Christmas Explosion.” It was so quirky, and I have a feeling that not many other teachers would have allowed me to do something so outlandish.

Thank you for treating me like your own when you had no obligation to do so. Thank you for all the rides home from school, the ice cream stops before lessons, the Christmas gifts and birthday cards. Thank you for teaching me to read music; to play my favorite instrument of all. Music is a universallanguage. Music is love. And you taught me that. I love you.

Sincerely,

Your student always