Piano Days

The theme song from "Hello Dolly" has been running through my head all day today. In fact, I found myself singing it in the car as I drove to the post office this morning. Why I remember the lyrics to songs is a blessing and a curse, but in this case, it seems to be reinforced by WordPress.

If you have any experience with WP, you probably have seen the snippets of "Hello Dolly" lyrics that appear in the upper righthand corner of the Admin pages. I happen to have a deeper connection to the song, which is why I photographed a copy of the front cover to a piano songbook from the show.

I know I have the actual book of songs somewhere in a box of music, a piece of my past as a young pianist. My mom loved musicals, and she and my father had seen "Hello Dolly." Mom purchased the piano music for the show tunes, in the hopes that one of her daughters would learn the songs and play them.

Imagine her surprise when her 6 year old found the book and taught herself some of the tunes. Yes, it was me. In fact, I'm not sure if it was to get me to practice more, or if he really did like the songs, but my father would ask that I play for him when he would go upstairs for his late afternoon naps. One of his biggest requests was "Hello Dolly."

Music has been a part of my life since I was born. I am the youngest of five children, and my siblings are all much older than me. There was always music playing in our home.

I was a professional flutist until a neck injury left me unable to play at an elite level anymore. I am now writing more and playing less, but still make music a part of my daily life.

Regardless of the fact that I think of my dad whenever this song comes into my life, I now hope that I have purged my brain of "Hello Dolly," because I am not a fan of the song.

Don't you just hate when that happens?