5 for Thursday

Hello My Friends and Happy Almost Weekend!

I have been thinking a lot about amazing people in my life, whether they are close to me or strangers, it is pretty remarkable the ability some people have to be good people despite their circumstances. 

1. My first amazing person to showcase is my father in law, Michael. He is probably the best person I know. He has always been so loving and caring and the way he treats people is just something that is so rare and uncommon nowadays. He is so patient and supportive of everyone he comes across and last but not least he is the best care giver to my brother in law, Drew, he puts some parents to shame on what a good dad he is. For 11 years now, I have seen him put others before himself, and now that he is a grandfather to my kids, I appreciate him and love him even more. No words will ever be able to describe the kind of admiration and appreciation I have for this man, he is just one of a kind.

2. Although I don't see him often, I have always been inspired by my cousin Toñito. He was born with a condition called Prader-Willi Syndrome which causes obesity, intellectual disability, and shortness in height, symptoms that were all pretty obvious at a very early age for him. I don't remember the exact numbers but at 12 years old he was at least 250 pounds, and as much as he had trouble with controlling his hunger, he was the happiest kid especially when there were animals or music around. He always asked for some sort of pet for birthdays or Christmas and he learned to play accordion so he could play with my grandfather. Around age 18 when he graduated from high school, my aunt and uncle decided to send him to a rehab center where he was able to go down to 120 pounds and improve his health immensely giving him a better chance at living a long and healthy life. 

3. My whole musical life, I have always been in awe of natural talent. They say you shouldn't start a child on a musical instrument till they are 3, but really, they naturally start learning music in the womb. The case was especially so for Celeste Golden. who is now an associate concertmaster for the St. Louis Symphony. I met her when I was 13 years old and we were both playing in the New Conservatory of Dallas program as violinists. She was the virtuosi prodigy and star student of program founder Arkady Fomin, and she was the envy of every student there. She began formal lessons at 3 and was accepted into Curtis Institute (the hardest music school to get into in the US) at the age of 16. We later crossed paths at Aspen Music Festival, and eventually through FB I have been able to see her succeed in the music world and become a mom of 2 these past few years. She is not only a world class violinist, but is now an avid photographer on the side and has an amazing eye for family shoots. It is fascinating to me to see people who are good at everything!

4. I have had several hundred students over the past 10 or so years and parents are the key to every successful student I teach. Of the many students I came in contact with, few if any were ever as kind or supportive as my student's, Diana Zavala, mother and father Sofia and David Zavala. I have known this family for almost 8 years now and even though I don't teach Diana anymore, they are still in my thoughts and prayers. This set of parents were so supportive and adamant that their daughter (and son) get the proper well-rounded education to succeed that they sacrificed so much in the process. They always made me feel like I was their hero for teaching their daughter, and even though I don't consider myself a hero, I admired their appreciation for what I was doing for their daughter and made me feel like all the effort I put into teaching was worth it. Most people don't realize but it takes a lot of time and money to be a successful orchestra student these days and these parents made sure to help my student accomplish playing at the college level and hopefully getting a scholarship in the next few years. Diana is a great kid all around, but a even better musician and I can't wait to see what success her music brings her!

5. Women who birth premie multiples, WOW. I really can't imagine how you get through giving premature birth to your children. I am so lucky that my twins were born at 37 weeks which means that they are considered full term (rare for twins) but I thank God everyday that I didn't have to deal with NICU time or feeding/breathing tubes. I just took the twins to their 18 month check up and they are doing great in health and wellness and I could not be happier, but at the same time I am always thinking "what if?" the twins had come early, where would we be in terms of heath conditions and growing??? One of my best friends from college is expecting twin girls, but because she birthed 2 girls already, I am praying everything goes well for her! I guess since twins are more common now a days, there are more and more posts/info online about premature births and it breaks my heart to learn of tiny babies being born so early and having difficulties. My heart goes out to these moms and they have my full respect and admiration for being able to get through it!

Well, there it is, a little piece of my brain on what I consider positive and inspiring reading material. Hard to come by these days, so I hope you enjoyed it!

XO, 

~Mrs. S