Five to six years ago I was really interested in music and would play a lot on my brother’s old keyboard. It was getting pretty old, the keys were starting to get yellow and were scratched up. Although it did have some pretty cool and old songs that it was able to teach me. I was amazed by the beautiful noise you could make and how older musicians could move their fingers so quickly and look so focused in what they were doing. I wanted to try that, and I wanted to know what it felt like. My dad loves the guitar and he used to be in a band when he was younger. He had three guitars, two were electric, and the other was acoustic. My dad loves music so much that when he saw me really interested he told me, “Lizette, if you really like music and the piano I can enroll you into classes.”
“Yeah! Please Papi!” I said with exhilaration. My hands were so high I could have touched the sky.
“Ok, I will, but you have to practice, love it, and have fun with it.”
“Ok I will Papi”. So he enrolled me in classes and my music teacher is Mrs. Stoike now. If it wasn’t for my dad I probably wouldn’t be in band or in piano lessons. After a while we asked her if I should change from my keyboard to a piano. She said it would be much better so that when I got older I would have enough room for my fingers on the piano more than on the keyboard. After that we went to a piano store and tested out a lot. I didn’t know what was going on because I was six or seven years old and playing around with the different kind of pianos. There were electrical, stylish, new, and old pianos, I loved the grand piano, but it was way too big!
It was a week or two after we went to the piano store and I was speeding my way back home from school. I went through the garage and I had no idea what was going on because there was a big car in the driveway. My parents didn’t want me to go through the entrance, instead the garage. I was a little curious, but I listened and didn’t go through. I tipped toed through the entrance and put my hand over my head as if I was a spy on a mission. When I went in I didn’t see anything, as soon as I put my stuff down I saw it! It was an electric piano, now MY PIANO! I was so thrilled to see it that I was jumping all over the house. My dad was holding it tight so it wouldn’t fall. He finally got it in through the door with help from the workers and put it in the corner of our house. I was in shock and couldn’t wait until I could use it and practice on it to make myself and family happy. I told him, “Wowwwwwww!!!! Thank you so much Papi!”
“You’re welcome Lizette, but remember our deal! I love you, and I hope you are really happy with this and music”.
I still have the piano and practice it, I am so happy to see my dad’s face every time he hears me play. He has tears of joy and smiles at me, he tells me, “Thank you for the songs and I’m so happy you still do piano, I hope you continue to love it and don’t give up on it”. My dad has influenced me into my music life and has made me think about many options to do with my music life. If it wasn’t for him to influence me, I probably would be practicing something completely different. Something we should always remember is to appreciate what we have. I know we get that message all the time, but the slightest thing can change our whole lives and we really need to say thanks to those that brought us closer to it. That is why I thank my dad and mom for believing in me and still taking me to band at 7:05am and taking me to piano classes every Friday at four. Even if I really don’t want to wake up in the morning….