During those years that I was sick, I would occasionally wander into whichever room housed the Yamaha Clavinova keyboard (a full upright, weighted key keyboard with pedals etc.) and I would sit down and try to play a song or two. I never had any formal piano training, but I wasn’t going for any awards. At a time when I didn’t have the energy even to listen to much music, there were nevertheless days when the sound of something simple, like Fur Elise or the Moonlight Sonata, moved me and made me feel, well, maybe not happy, but somehow redeemed. So I taught myself how to read music well enough to play these songs, along with a few others, and I played them now and again over the years. I never got to a point where I could play a song without making mistakes, and I never made much progress, but I enjoyed it when I could.

I’ve always felt a connection to the piano, and always regretted that I didn’t take lessons. To be honest, I did take lessons very briefly when I was five or six. My mom thought I was too young to start up with lessons, but one day my older brother was required to play through all of his songs before he could go outside to play. After he played them and put his music away and left the house, I went and sat down at the piano and played one of his songs through from beginning to end without mistake. What I would give to remember what state of mind I was in, because that I don’t remember. I just remember my mom coming out of the kitchen, spatula in hand, and looking at me with something like shock mixed with suspicion. “Did you just play that?” she asked. I nodded. She asked me to play it again, and I did. It wasn’t anything too complicated – it was a relatively simple, but two-handed version of “The Way We Were.” My mom sent me to piano lessons. But I was young, and already demonstrated the desire to do everything, a desire that obviously I still struggle with. Within a year, I dropped the lessons in favor of martial arts.

A week ago, my husband and I were having dinner at a new Whole Foods that is very close to our house, and afterwards he asked me if I wanted to take a walk around the new shopping area to see what other stores and restaurants had been established there. One of the first things I saw was a place called My Music Skool. I stopped, and stared at that sign; it was arresting me. “Do you think that’s a real music school?” I asked him. He shrugged. We continued to walk around, but somehow I couldn’t get my mind off it. I decided to step in, just to inquire, no big deal. Yes, they offered piano lessons. That night I sent the school an email inquiring about pricing, etc. But by the next morning I couldn’t even wait for an answer, so I called. The best time for me would be Thursday evenings, so the woman I spoke to chose the teacher who was available at that time.

My trial lesson was last night. I don’t know how to describe it but to say that I’m still smiling. The teacher and I connected. No, we CONNECTED. He is an Emmy-award winning composer who has composed for something like 100 TV shows, documentaries, and movies. He just happens to like teaching as well and just happens to live in the same area. Furthermore – I don’t want to get too detailed with his info – but let’s just say he totally gets what I’ve gone through for the last eleven years with Crohn’s. And when I mentioned that I write fiction and that I had written a screenplay that was an historical biopic based on a true story, it turned out that he too has written a screenplay, and that most of the music he composes is for dramas and especially historical dramas, and that he would be really happy to read my screenplay and connect me to people in the industry. What are the chances? And we like the same kind of piano music, and with him I can learn both the classical music that really moves me, as well as how to “comp,” which is how to sit down and pick up something like a Neil Young song relatively quickly so that I can play songs with my husband (him on guitar).

I know that I have a propensity to overextend myself, but I’m really excited about taking these piano lessons. Not to mention pulling out that screenplay that I shelved.