One of my favorite memories from childhood was playing the
violin. This is really interesting,
since I never practiced and was probably one of the worst to ever play the
instrument. I started playing in 3rd
grade. It was kind of a pre- ordained
choice. My uncle was a professional
violinist. I knew that, of course. And I think that influenced my decision. That, and the fact that I had a lousy voice
and couldn’t sing my way out of a paper bag.
So, during the time that my Mom was starting to deteriorate, I started
playing violin. And the school gave me
lessons. But eventually, a private
instructor was recommended. And as I
have said before, my parents were concerned with my artistic education. So, they found a teacher for me. His name was Dr. Sheasby. Dr. Sheasby was teaching privately in
retirement. But he was a former head of
the music department at Northwestern University. Very prestigious. I loved the man. I was also a little intimidated. Not enough to practice, though. As I said, I was pretty bad. But I loved the lessons. And with Dr. Sheasby, my playing was
occasionally OK. We would play
together. He was on the piano and I was
on the violin. Even though he tried to
work me hard, and much of it was tedious, I loved the moments when we actually
made music.
On a personal level, I think I benefitted from my
interactions with the man. He was one of
those people that appeared stern on the outside, but was truly a cream puff on
the inside. He hated the guitar and was
dismissive of any music that wasn’t classical, but he did really teach me about
the beauty of music. I know my Mom was
getting sick at the time that we worked together. But I also remember that she was the only one
to drive me to lessons. So, I had to be
attending with this clearly unwashed woman.
Of course, nothing was said. It
was always kind of surreal to go somewhere with my Mom. She looked mentally ill. And so, I would be going places and acting as
if there was no problem…and so would other people. But CLEARLY, her issues did “stick out like a
sore thumb”. And it was like I was living in The Twilight Zone.
Continued....
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