I made a deal with myself early on when I was pregnant with my second child. Whatever I did for my first child; I would do for the second child. It was only fair. That way, each child would be treated equally and they could never accuse me of favoritism.
Flash forward: nine years.
My youngest daughter has never really asked me for everything. Until now. She came home from school with a piece a paper from Mr. Haller, her older sister's music instructor. I knew what that meant. She sheepishly handed me the slip. Earlier in the week, she tried out musical instruments and the paper had her results.
As I looked on the slip, I was shocked by her instrument selection. Her choice: the alto saxophone. My mouth nearly hit the ground. She had considered the flute for a few years, but changed her mind. I was worried how much the instrument would cost, but reassured her that I would get it by her first lesson in two weeks. I called around to a few places to get prices for her instrument; it was cheaper than her sister's trumpet.
My nine year old started bugging me about when we'd get her instrument. She wanted to be there. I reassured her that she would be. So, I drove the girls to a local store. They had the last alto saxophone; my heart almost sank though...they didn't take debit cards. The owner didn't know what one was; he was in his 70s. However, when he saw the VISA logo; he changed his mind. My daughter was delighted and tried out the instrument. He had a trumpet in his store and let my oldest daughter play it; he loved her sound and told her she should practice more. I agreed. He told she had a gift and would be a much better player, if she practiced. I chimed it how her cousin, also a trumpet player was away at college and had just played with musician John Tesch.
To make a long story short, the trumpet was delivered to her school. I came to her first lesson and she was really good. She learned how to play her instrument, clean it and take care of it. When she brought her instrument home on the school bus and walked into our front door, she ran upstairs with her sister and they started playing their instruments. (No one warned me how LOUD the alto sax could be.)
It's now two weeks since her first lesson. Bubbly and with a huge smile, she came marching down the stairs with the alto sax around her neck. Playing notes and pushing keys. She was singing and bobbing her head. All that was missing was her sunglasses. My, little Ms. Joe Cool.
Two daughters playing instruments. I didn't plan this, but I'm happy about. Not always happy with the noise. I think I have a pretty good idea how Mrs. Marsalis (Wynton and Branford's mother) feels.
Posted By: Marsha Jones
Friday, November 13th 2009 at 8:53AM
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