Here’s Shirley! I hope to be as happy and busy and wise as she when I am in my 80’s. Shirley loves Elvis Presley and Michael Buble, and you cannot be in a bad mood when teaching or playing their songs it’s just impossible (I have tried), which means I am always happy when I am teaching Shirley.

 

2018

 

2017

 

2016

This lady just turned 80. Yes she did. Still going strong with her diligent practice routine, careful adherence to instructions, and great ideas for repertoire to study.

2015

 

Shirley has been taking piano lessons with me for about the last 9 years or so. She was not a complete beginner. She had taken piano lessons on and off with several teachers as an adult. I love this about her. She was a very busy person with a full time nursing career and a single mother to two daughters but she still never gave up on learning how to play the piano. I met her when she was retired and I was teaching her grandson, another very wonderful individual who deserves a separate blog post. For several years I taught Shirley, her grandson and her grandaughter. I got to know her daughter and son in law, her grandchildren, and Shirley herself through my weekly visits. I am still grateful for the time I shared with this family.
Shirley is my idea of a model student. She is retired, so she has time to practice. She diligently applies a strong effort to all of my assignments. She keeps an open mind and is willing to try new things. She persists when the material is complicated and unfamiliar, and we are both so pleased when once again she comes out the other side of it and can play something that seemed impossible a few weeks ago. She is kind, and wise. A few times I have stayed an extra half hour (when I don’t have another lesson right away, I am not a complete unprofessional moron) talking her ear off about my life and its problems at her back door with my shoes and jacket on while she listens and advises. When I was young I never thought about anyone over 40. Now in the last gasps of my fading youth I have a deepening appreciation for everyone over 70. I never expected as a piano teacher I would teach older adults in their retirement years, and I certainly never expected to love it. Many times I have said to my older adult students that I am learning as much from them as they are from me, and I definitely feel this way about Shirley. I tease her that she is the busiest retired person I know, with her travelling and going to the gym, helping out with her grandchildren, home renovations projects and busy social life. I’m glad she makes time for piano practice and lessons. My week would be far less bright without her.