Three years ago, three of my children began taking piano lessons.  This year, dd16 was in Israel and dd10 started, so it was still three children but with a little bit of switching.  Two weeks ago, dd14, ds12, and dd10 had their final piano recital.  Every Sunday morning for years, three kids have one after another had their lessons at the beginning of the day; it’s been part of our routine and we’ve watched them progress in ability and skill.  The recital was lovely, as always, and there was the added poignancy of knowing this stage is coming to an end.   

I’ve been so grateful that my children have had a chance to have these lessons.  I love music and being able to play adds an extra dimension of enjoyment to experiencing music.  I didn’t feel piano was the right instrument for ds9, so last year he took violin lessons for a period of time, but we didn’t continue when the summer began.  (Tomorrow he’ll begin art lessons – drawing is something he really enjoys.)   Dd16 took guitar lessons this year while in Israel – she didn’t mind piano but it wasn’t something she was passionate about – she enjoyed guitar much more. 

After the recital, I was talking to an adult neighbor who recently began taking piano lessons with the same teacher as my children.  She mentioned that she also plays flute, and that she had recently started giving lessons.  As we were chatting, she made the very generous offer to give any of my children who are interested lessons – for free – until we move.  Isn’t that amazingly generous of her? 

Though more than one child expressed interest in taking flute lessons, there was only one child who I felt should really, really do this – dd14.  And she was the one whose eyes lit up when I mentioned it.   To me, the flute is an instrument that matches her personality; it’s such a gift for her to have this opportunity now. 

 Her 15th birthday is coming up in a month, and as a slightly early birthday gift, we bought her a flute.  Though it would have been less expensive to rent a flute for such a short time, I wanted her to have her own instrument to support her interest.  The flute is a very compact instrument, and she can easily take it along when we move. 

We were fortunate to find a nice quality flute and case on Craigslist for $75.  Her teacher looked at it today and told her it’s silver-plated; I just assumed it was nickel because that’s the less expensive kind.  It’s nice when you get an even better deal than you expected! 

 Her first lesson was today, and both she and our neighbor enjoyed it very much – so much that the teacher suggested that they continue with lessons via Skype!  Wouldn’t that be nice if that worked out?  Regardless of how long this continues or if this ends up being an instrument that dd advances with or not, I’m so glad she’ll have this opportunity this summer, and I am once again amazed at the blessings that Hashem is constantly sending our way!

Avivah