Music Lessons

This weekend, I went to Long Island to celebrate my grandmother's 89th birthday. She was in amazingly good spirits considering the recent death of her husband. I keep telling her "You are stronger than you know." After the requisite feting and feasting, I had a little time with her for making music by the piano. My sister and I fumbled through a few piano duets and I was aware of my grandmother's nostalgic kick as we played a Scherzo and the Traumerei. Then there was the call for Beethoven sonatas....a bit of the Waldstein (not my favorite), then some of the Pathetique (I love the Rondo) and lots of the schmaltzy Tempest.
I remember sitting at that piano in the blue carpeted room as a kid and soaking up special time with Nana. How lucky I was to have her as my piano teacher! Nobody has ever accused me of being a piano-perfectionist...but I have such joy when I play, and it is such a haunting way for me to express all kinds of emotions. She sat by my side, usually patiently, as I learned to do this.
Now, much of my afternoon life is spent teaching piano...both to beginners and to older students who are working the nuances. My life has changed immensely from those lesson days; now I am a grownup living in a different state, and teaching with an amalgam of what I learned from various music teachers over the years. However, sitting by someone and experiencing early music reading or advanced flowing passages has been a constant in my life. It is such a way for connecting with people, and with myself. I am very lucky.