As a kid I was involved in so many activities, both during the summer and the school year. My parents signed me up for T-Ball, Dance, Gymnastics and so many others. They tried so hard to get me involved in sports, and obviously that wasn't how it turned out for me. It wasn't till around second grade when they put me in piano lessons and I found something that I absolutely loved. Ever since then music became the center of who I was and who I am as a person, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Obviously second grade was not the beginning of my love of music. My earliest memory of music is sitting in the backseat of my dad's truck with my sister listening to his numerous oldies country cd's and memorizing every single word. Most of his CD collection included (and still includes) George Jones, George Strait, Johnny Cash, etc, all of which I still love today. Everytime I hear one of their songs I'm six years old again sitting the back of my dad's truck. In my experience, music has the ability to turn back time, and no I'm not just quoting the song by Cher. Even today I listen to just about anything, I am very open-minded when it comes to the music i listen to.
My excitement for music became greater as I began to sit down and play it myself. I know this may sound corny but it took me to another place. It was exciting because it was just me, my abilities and how I could improve those abilites. Playing piano challenged me, and practicing for my Tuesday night lessons became my biggest focus. My excitement grew even more when I got to sixth grade and joined band playing the flute. Suddenly music wasn't just about me and my abilities, It was about me and every other member of the group, and gave me a chance to be apart of something greater than myself. As time went on I had to make a choice, and I eventually stopped playing piano freshman year of high school in order to join marching band. I am glad that I made that decision because marching band taught me so much, and I created unbreakable bonds with so many people.
Even though I don't play music anymore, it's still a huge part of my life and always will be. Every once and a while I sit down at the piano a try to play again, and like I stated before it brings me back to those Tuesday night lessons. Music is my time machine, each decade and genre of music is a piece of history and Its something that is never going away.