With only a few weeks left before we head out to Michigan, Glo is closing a lot of chapters in her life, and with her being our last child, we are too.
Yesterday (Sunday), Glo and I left church after sacrament meeting to head to the second-to-last lesson with Amy in Philadelphia. I was worried that John would disapprove of us going for so many reasons, and don't think that I didn't feel incredibly guilty doing it, but in a rare sign of instant approval from John, he said to me, "Aris, don't you think we should take advantage of every last opportunity for Glo to visit her 'oracle'?"
What a perfect description for Glo's teacher, Amy.
Amy has been the greatest mentor to Glo, and dare I say, friend? Glo's lessons aren't just about notes and technique, but they are about life and philosophy and motivation. If I could have hand-picked any mentor in the world for Glo, and defined every attribute I wanted in that mentor, it would be Amy, through and through.
Needless to say, every time I'm around her (and I've been around her a lot over the past seven years), I still get star struck. I feel as if I'm in the midst of greatness. She is what I would be if I could be anything.
And to think that Glo might not have had her for a teacher.
We found her through Mark's horn teacher, Angela, back in 2010. Angela gave us Amy's information, and I promptly contacted her, asking her to teach Glo. She agreed to meet with us, and as rudimentary as Glo played at the time, Amy never expressed disappointment, but instead told us that she would give Glo a trial period. If she could tell that Glo practiced and was making progress, she would agree to teach her. But, in her words, if Glo didn't practice, she was "too expensive a teacher to waste her time teaching Glo." The pressure was on. Thankfully, Glo quickly grew into a beautiful, musical, sensitive musician with Amy. The first few years were more difficult, because Amy was expecting mature playing and would focus on one single measure for half of the lesson if necessary (not exactly fun for an 11-year-old), but now, Glo comes out of her lessons rejuvenated, excited, and already looking forward to the next one.
And we have come to find out that she doesn't have another regular student. Nope, not one. She only offers one-time lessons to professional musicians who have auditions or performances and who need professional guidance. I have no idea why in the world she agreed to take on Glo seven years ago, but she did, and we are forever grateful.
And one of the many lovely things about Amy is that she is always genuinely interested in what is going on with our family. I think we are so different from anything she knows or has experienced that she finds us rather fascinating. And I know, that if I step foot into her home at the beginning of a lesson, I will not exit that door for at least a good half hour, because she has so many things to tell me and ask me.
She knows all about our kids going on missions, and she knows where they have all gone to school and for what subject. She gives us free tickets to some of the most expensive concerts of the Philadelphia Orchestra...just because we can hang around late after a lesson. She knew that the Philadelphia temple meant something to us when it opened this year.
She has seen Glo grow up, and for several years would comment on how much Glo had grown over the summer while at Interlochen. When Glo started with her, she was a short little thing, but she now easily eclipses Amy's height. She has helped Glo through every audition, and when Glo informed her that she had gotten into BYU for music, Amy was unimpressed, only wanting to hear about the quality of Glo's audition.
We love her. We love her husband, Ricardo (star struck again). We love Charlie. We love Victoria. We love her home.
She is, quite simply, the best.
Yesterday (Sunday), Glo and I left church after sacrament meeting to head to the second-to-last lesson with Amy in Philadelphia. I was worried that John would disapprove of us going for so many reasons, and don't think that I didn't feel incredibly guilty doing it, but in a rare sign of instant approval from John, he said to me, "Aris, don't you think we should take advantage of every last opportunity for Glo to visit her 'oracle'?"
What a perfect description for Glo's teacher, Amy.
Amy has been the greatest mentor to Glo, and dare I say, friend? Glo's lessons aren't just about notes and technique, but they are about life and philosophy and motivation. If I could have hand-picked any mentor in the world for Glo, and defined every attribute I wanted in that mentor, it would be Amy, through and through.Needless to say, every time I'm around her (and I've been around her a lot over the past seven years), I still get star struck. I feel as if I'm in the midst of greatness. She is what I would be if I could be anything.
And to think that Glo might not have had her for a teacher.
We found her through Mark's horn teacher, Angela, back in 2010. Angela gave us Amy's information, and I promptly contacted her, asking her to teach Glo. She agreed to meet with us, and as rudimentary as Glo played at the time, Amy never expressed disappointment, but instead told us that she would give Glo a trial period. If she could tell that Glo practiced and was making progress, she would agree to teach her. But, in her words, if Glo didn't practice, she was "too expensive a teacher to waste her time teaching Glo." The pressure was on. Thankfully, Glo quickly grew into a beautiful, musical, sensitive musician with Amy. The first few years were more difficult, because Amy was expecting mature playing and would focus on one single measure for half of the lesson if necessary (not exactly fun for an 11-year-old), but now, Glo comes out of her lessons rejuvenated, excited, and already looking forward to the next one.
And we have come to find out that she doesn't have another regular student. Nope, not one. She only offers one-time lessons to professional musicians who have auditions or performances and who need professional guidance. I have no idea why in the world she agreed to take on Glo seven years ago, but she did, and we are forever grateful.
And one of the many lovely things about Amy is that she is always genuinely interested in what is going on with our family. I think we are so different from anything she knows or has experienced that she finds us rather fascinating. And I know, that if I step foot into her home at the beginning of a lesson, I will not exit that door for at least a good half hour, because she has so many things to tell me and ask me.
She knows all about our kids going on missions, and she knows where they have all gone to school and for what subject. She gives us free tickets to some of the most expensive concerts of the Philadelphia Orchestra...just because we can hang around late after a lesson. She knew that the Philadelphia temple meant something to us when it opened this year.
She has seen Glo grow up, and for several years would comment on how much Glo had grown over the summer while at Interlochen. When Glo started with her, she was a short little thing, but she now easily eclipses Amy's height. She has helped Glo through every audition, and when Glo informed her that she had gotten into BYU for music, Amy was unimpressed, only wanting to hear about the quality of Glo's audition.
We love her. We love her husband, Ricardo (star struck again). We love Charlie. We love Victoria. We love her home.
She is, quite simply, the best.
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| Amy collects expensive violins. I found this picture online of her trying one out. And there's Ricardo and Baby Victoria <3 |
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| And every summer, the whole family goes with the Orchestra to China on tour. Here's a picture of them loading their stuff onto the bus outside the Kimmel Center. Victoria doesn't look too happy, does she? But Ricardo is smiling his ebullient Puerto Rican smile. I've never seen him look any other way. |
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