Our Piano (This is Judie at our Piano)
"Musical Memories"
My first conscious memory of music in our family
was when someone sat down with me at the piano and taught me how to play Jesus
Loves Me in chords with both hands. I was only about 5 or 6 then, right about
the time my little sister, Judie, was born. But even though I don't remember
it, I'm sure I heard our Mother singing many times before that. I do remember
times when we'd be driving home late at night from somewhere, like maybe a
holiday trip to one of our grandparents' house. Most of us kids would be tired
and relaxed in the back while the youngest would be sitting between Mother and
Daddy in the front seat or on Mother's lap. (Seatbelts were not heard of in
those days.) As we drove along Mother would begin singing songs like "My Wild
Irish Rose" or "An Irish Lullaby." It wasn't long before we would all fall
asleep to the rocking motion of the car and our mother's lullaby.
Later as we grew older, every one of us 5 girls and
Jimmy took piano lessons. Part of the time Daddy did yardwork for our piano
teacher in order to pay for the lessons. Daddy also loved music. He loved to
hear us play and often would ask us to sit down and play something on the piano
for him. I loved to hear him make music too. He could whistle beautifully, and
play the harmonica too. One special memory is of waking up to Daddy's harmonica
playing on a snowy morning. It seemed he always played while they waited for
news on the radio of whether we had to go to school or not. To this day
whenever I hear someone playing the harmonica or whistling nicely, I think of
Daddy.
It seemed that there was always music in our house,
but it was seldom coming from the radio or TV. Usually it was someone playing
the piano, or singing. I think it was when I was 16 that Sharon and Judie and I
began singing in church. Everyone called us the Dick Sisters. Maybe that's why
we enjoyed the Lawrence Welk Show and hearing the Lennon Sisters sing each
Saturday night.
One of my favorite times for singing was when we
were all riding together in the car. Inevitably someone would start a song, and
everyone else would join in. Soon we'd all be singing 3 part harmony. How I
enjoyed that singing. In fact, because of that musical beginning, music has
been and always will be a very important and enjoyable part of my
life.
