Memories Monday

I took piano lessons for years when I was little...with little success. I play, but not well. I guess I just never got excited about it. Finally it came to screeching halt when I was asked to play in Young Women's one Sunday. I said no. That was HUGE for me. I always said yes when I was asked to do something by a leader, but this time I couldn't take the potential embarrassment. I cringe just thinking about it. I took it a step further and told my mom I just didn't want to play anymore. I have since repented, and I play when I'm asked and try not to care when I mess up. Anyway, I had been playing the violin for a while and my mom asked if I wanted to take violin lessons. Talk about optimism. She had already wasted a ton of money on piano! I said yes, and then I met Mr. Shaw. He was a nearly eighty year old man who wore argyle sweater vests, slacks, and loafers....and alternately rode a motorcycle, airplane, or six speed Saab form Sedona to Snowflake twice a week to give lessons. He didn't ride his motorcycle often because he couldn't strap his violin and viola on the back at the same time. There was a short time when he had the coolest VW van. It was bright red and the whole front end opened so you could get in and out. I prayed when I knew he was flying his airplane. He had a talent for teaching that I have rarely seen. He made me want to practice. Let me say that again. He made ME want to practice. I would finish a lesson and go home saying to myself, "I'm gonna show him! I'm going to be perfect next week!" If he corrected me on a passage and then I played it wrong again, when I knew how to play it right, he would say, "how would you like a punch in the nose?" I heard that a lot. He wasn't one to dole out complements. You had to earn them. I was blown away when one day he said, "You have a damn good ear!" Then he apologized for swearing at me. He was so generous. One time I asked if he could give me and extra lesson so I could get ready for an audition. He went out of his way to meet me in Flagstaff and then would not let me pay him! Another time I was waiting to start my lesson and a young girl had a blank check and was saying, "I've had X lessons and you change X dollars and hour so thaaaats???" He told her a number that was half of what it should have been. I raised my eyebrows at him and he winked at me while the girl wrote the check. Mr. Shaw also directed the symphony for many years. During rehearsal when he wanted us to start at a certain rehearsal letter he would say,"Letter L! L! Lucious ladies lounging in Louisiana!" or similar hilarious alliterations. Eventually he decided to retire. We were all so sad, but he was eighty by then, and deserved a break. For the last concert we played Dvorak's 9th symphony and to this day it makes me miss him. After the concert we had a farewell party for him. My friend and I went over to say thank you and goodbye. We were just chatting with him and he said, "Want to know a secret?' He lifted up his pant leg to reveal black nylons! He had accidentally grabbed his wife's nylons instead of his socks!  The good memories keep going but I should stop. Suffice it to say that I will never forget Mr. Shaw. And there is good news about all the lessons! They paid off and paid my college tuition. Yay mom for not giving up on me!