My Portfolio

This special day began typically for March in Ohio, gray with blowing rain against the bedroom window.  How I wished the sun could pop out from behind the clouds.     Today is the occasion for honoring a good friend and mentor for many of the musicians in our city.  Our...

After much anticipation and planning we were leaving snowy Ohio to enjoy sunny Spain in January of 2005.  A special part of our good time on this trip was having our older son John to join us.  John, flying up from Nashville, met us in Philadelphia for the big hop over...

The Christmas I was seven,  I have nothing but happiest of memories about.  That year of all wonderful things we somehow got to be in Virginia on Christmas Eve.  Usually, we had to wait until at least Christmas Day to head out from Tennessee because of my dad's church commitment , but this year was different.  We were...

My mother had many stories to tell about her mother in-law, my 'Maw-Maw' Wagner.  As I put things in perspective now, I must say my grandmother was brave enough to be her own person.  My mom and dad out of economic necessity lived with his parents for several months after their marriage...

With my diploma fresh in hand I was hired to teach fifth grade in Roanoke County, Virginia, which was 32 miles from my mom's house.  I was given a choice, first grade or fifth grade.  Having my mom and her sister my Aunt Helen as veteran fifth grade teachers as support, I chose...

It was a windy October Saturday in Chicago, 1994, and we were spending the weekend with Ed and Anna, who had just moved into their apartment near the Univ. of Chicago campus.  Ed was beginning graduate school and Anna had started a new job at the University Hospital.  We were eager to visit the big city and they were very brave to...

It was a weekend just before school resumed this fall and granddaughter Mia age 9 was invited for a sleepover at a special friend's house.  Her younger sister Nikki age 7 immediately began packing her 'stuff', expecting to be included.  Our Anna (their mom), sensing that Mia was needing some space from her younger sister, came up with what...

I remember thinking as I drove to the downtown school where I taught court reporting, what a perfect autumn day it was, a cloudless sky on September 11, 2001 in Columbus, Ohio.  That morning I was assisting the head teacher as we read Q&A for high speed students preparing for graduation.  Around 10:30 that morning a member of...

Becoming a court reporter would have never entered my mind as a 20-year-old.  At that time in my life I was playing piano up a storm and intent on graduation from college as a music major.  Fast forwarding 32 years in a chance perusal of the employment section of our Columbus,...

The summer of 1959 began with my graduation from Farragut High School, one of 53.  I had many memorable events to enjoy, among them presenting a solo piano recital in May, and receiving many good wishes and in that day many graduation gifts.  The church members were very generous.  The money gifts were...

My earliest memories of music are from church, as my dad was a Methodist minister.  I am told that at the age of two I begged to sit beside the church pianist as she played.  When we got home, I then pretended I was the pianist, playing on the window sill....