Timing Is Everything

The definition of timing is "A placement or occurrence in time."
To equate this to music, "Notes and timing are the backbone when it comes to playing music. Timing determines rhythm and it is crucial to music."

Life is all about timing and this is a cute story of how timing was musically related and I mean MUSICALLY and RELATED....literally and figuratively.

A few weeks ago, I received a call from one of my former piano student's mother telling me that her 13 year old daughter wanted to resume piano lessons, as well as her 10 year old daughter. Abbey started with me when she was 6 years old, which is very young and as it turned out she just was not ready and did not continue for long. (I recommend 8 years old as an ideal age to start.)

I was thrilled when her mother called because I always remembered Abbey as a sweet and adorable little girl. I looked forward to seeing her as a grown teenager. And what a bonus to meet her again and her 10 year old sister who was undoubtedly also as sweet and adorable.

When the lesson day came it was such a nice reunion and we all hugged and reminisced as it was 7 years ago since we saw one another. In the course of the conversation, Abbey's mom told me that her 16 year old son was a sophomore at the same school as my brother's son, Nick. I asked her if his name sounded familiar and to my surprise she exclaimed, "Nick and my son are best friends!"

I could not believe my ears. Out of over 300 kids, what are the chances??!!
Well, of course life is full of coincidences such as this but you have to admit that it IS all about timing. Perhaps if Abbey's mom never called about piano lessons, I would have run into her in 2 years at my nephew's graduation party. Who knows but I am so happy that I will get to enjoy teaching Abbey and her sister every week. For me the timing is perfect and over the course of their lessons, the girls will musically learn that "timing is everything."

How Do You Keep the Music Playing?

It was a Friday night and Theresa did not feel like going out after working all day, especially since she had to get up early the next morning and go back to work. But, she had promised her girlfriend Anne that she would take her out to a few "night life" spots in the town where she grew up. Theresa was grumpy and after driving 40 miles they stopped in a little neighborhood bar to have a drink. It was smokey and so they had one drink and left. Then they stopped at another place and it was "deadsville" so they moved on. The last place they went to was a huge restaurant/bar with people of all ages and a crowded bar. Anne headed to the bar and immediately started talking to a gentleman. Theresa was not in the mood to talk and had no interest in meeting a man no matter how "gentle" he might be. She headed over by the entrance, sat on a bench and just watched the people pour into the restaurant.

After awhile, Anne waved her over to the bar. She sat down and as she looked across the bar, her eyes saw a familiar face and she was surprised to see him so far away from home. They laughed and spoke for awhile and she started to have fun. Then the man sitting next to her started chatting. He was 8 years younger but as they started talking they discovered that he was good friends with Philip who went through grade school, junior high and high school with Theresa. They were always good friends but never dated. Theresa had always liked Philip and thought about him off and on over the years and Philip had done the same with Theresa, wondering what had become of her.

It turned out that Philip was single and available so Theresa wrote him a note on a napkin asking him to call her and the friend was going to make sure that Philip got the note. A month went by and Theresa never heard from Philip. She figured he was not interested. Two weeks later, Philip called Theresa and said that he found a note on his car and was perplexed as to how it got there. He was thrilled to hear from her and they talked for 3 weeks and finally met at a diner half way between their homes.

They sat there for 3 and a half hours, talking, laughing, kissing and carrying on like teenagers. They instantly connected, started dating and had many moments of fun and reminiscing. Theresa wanted to take things a bit slower than Philip and it hurt him when Theresa could not return his love as quickly as he wanted. He was so loving and giving and treated her like a queen. He thought she was the most beautiful girl in the world and she did love him but was afraid to admit it. She was holding on to the past and because she could not let go of it she lost her future.

Theresa and Philip had not seen each other for 40 years and instantly connected. It is sad that they could not find a way to keep the music playing. Their fate turned into fear and froze their relationship. The sad thing is that Philip is probably thinking about Theresa and Theresa is thinking about Philip but neither one of them will admit it.

"Maybe I didn't love you quite as often as I could have; and maybe I didn't treat you quite as good as I should have. If I made you feel second best, I'm sorry I was blind; You were always on my mind, you were always on my mind."