"H" is for Hymns

When I was in grade school, I took piano lessons. I was not the most dedicated pupil, and most of the lessons didn't stick, but at least my piano teachers earned a little extra money each week.

I later joined the band, because it sounded like a fun thing to do. I decided to play the flute, because my best friend was going to play flute, and clarinets looked kind of dorky. The band was a more social thing than playing piano, and it soon took over my life. I dropped piano lessons.

As a grownup, I began to see that playing the piano might be more useful than playing the flute, which I had barely touched since high school graduation. Last night, I pulled out the electric keyboard we had purchased with the intent of our children taking piano lessons. (Which never really got off the ground.) I just felt like playing some hymns.

We had a small book of simplified hymn arrangements, alsopurchased for lessons which ended almost before they began. Since DH was on the couch in a Sunday evening semi-comatose state, I turned the volume down as low as I could. I was painfully rusty, hitting clunkers and missing accidentals and generally sounding like someone just learning to play.

When I decided I was done and began to put the keyboard away, my DH said, "That was really nice, honey."

And that is one of the big advantages of marrying a tone-deaf man.