Every since I was a little girl, I wanted to play the piano.  My grandmother had a piano in her living room.  My Aunt had bought it so she could learn the piano.  I remember my grandmother playing "Red Wing" on it, and every time I hear that music I think of her.

My grandmother didn't like hearing me banging on the piano; so most of the time she locked the lid over the keys.  My heart longed to make the music sing.

When I was six years old, my parents rented a house in Fort Smith, Arkansas.  I loved that place because it had an upstairs and a piano.  Soon, though, the landlord came and took the piano away.  I was heartbroken.

The next year we moved into our own house on South Houston Street.  The next-door neighbor had a piano.  One of their little boys taught me to play a song called, "I Dropped My Dolly"   You played it entirely on the black keys. 

I dropped my dolly in the dirt.
I asked me dolly if it hurt.
And all my dolly said to me was
Wahn, wahn, wahn.

I tried to convince my parents to let me take piano lessons, but it was impossible without a piano.  Besides we moved too much.  How would we be able to take a piano with us all over the world?

Whenever I would have the chance, I would play on other people's pianos.  Whenever we would visit my grandmother, I would beg her to let me play, "I Dropped My Dolly" on her piano.

When I was in the sixth grade at Fort Hood, Texas, my parents bought me a clarinet.  I was very happy to learn to play it and learn how to read music.  I played in the school band and sang in the school choir.  I loved expressing myself with music.

I didn't forget my love of the piano.  I would draw keyboards on paper and play my imaginary piano in my head.  Whenever I visited a friend who had a piano, I would play quietly and learn the pieces in "Teaching Little Fingers to Play" by John Thompson.  Someday I hoped to play the piano while our congregation sang praises to our Creator.

When I was sixteen years old, I got a job working in a fast-food restaurant.  I saved enough money for a down payment on a used Kohler and Campbell console piano.  The finance company sent me a payment booklet, and I mailed them one coupon and $15.32 every month.  While all my friends were buying their first car, I now owned my own piano.  The tone of that piano was the most beautiful sound in the world.  Finally, I could take lessons.  However, I didn't know anyone who could teach me.  So I would pick out the notes with my right hand and make up my own chords with my left.

When I moved to Fairbanks and got married, I left the piano with my parents.  I couldn't take it with me because I didn't have the money to ship the piano to Alaska.

After we built our A-frame home, I had a place for my own piano.  My flight instructor's wife wanted to sell her upright Grand.  With the money I got from selling the piano I'd left at my parents, I bought the Grand because it was already in Fairbanks.

Then I went to the Music Mart to find a teacher.  We had our lessons at the library.  Because I could read music, the teacher started me in an adult piano course.  I was working full time at the Alaska Railroad, and I had little time learn the pieces.  As the lessons became more difficult, I couldn't keep up, and I stopped.  Instead I used guitar music to show me which chords to play, and I continued teaching myself.

When we built the house we live in now, I decided to sell my Grand piano in the fall before we moved.  We didn't have much money in the bank, and moving the piano would be a lot of trouble.  After a year and a half, we were able to afford another used piano which I have kept until today. 

After my babies were born, I decided to stay at home with them.  When my older son went to kindergarten and my younger son went to preschool, I had a few hours each week to take lessons.  I found a wonderful teacher who taught me how to apply my knowledge of music to the piano.  I learned to sight read the bass clef music and play with both hands.

We traveled a lot, and I homeschooled my children for a couple of years.  My piano teacher stopped giving lessons to help her husband with his business; so my piano education was put on hold once again.

When both my children attended school all day, I had a lot of free time on my hands.  This was before we had a computer connected to the Internet.  My doctor had ordered me to rest, and I was not to take care anyone but myself.

During this period of convalescence, my son and I attended his friend's piano recital.  He was excited about learning music because he wanted to play the guitar.  He had read that some musicians started their music education learning to play the piano.  After the recital, I talked to the music teacher.  Even though it was the end of the school year, she agreed to give him lessons.  After his first lesson, she offered me a free piano lesson.  At last I had a chance to fulfill my dream of learning the piano.

Mary Ellen Koeller started me in John Thompson's "Teaching Little Fingers to Play."  It was a dream come true.  Since childhood, I had yearned to learn the pieces in this little book.  I moved swiftly through the lessons and onto the next level.  Mrs. Koeller was a nurturing teacher, and her enthusiasm kept me from getting discouraged.

Mrs. Koeller taught me everything as if I was beginning as a child.  I learned Czerny exercises and scales.  I was thrilled when I learned to play the Sonatina in C by Clementi, and she and I could play duet's on her two pianos.  A deep feeling of satisfaction swelled inside me.  When my son and I played in the same recital, I was bursting with pride while he played.

The highlight of my learning to play the piano was accompanying the congregation singing at our annual celebration of the Last Supper.

I enjoy having friends come over to have sing-a-longs.  From time to time, I give free piano lessons to children.  One summer, I attended a master's piano class at the University of Alaska.  I memorized a Kuhlau Sonatina to play during the class.

I feel blessed to have realized my dream.