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Saturday, September 14, 2013

Advice from Nina


When I moved here almost thirty years ago, I fell in with a community stalwart of whom I may write chapters.  We are good friends to this day.  Nina is a few years older than I am, living on the same track, but half a dozen steps ahead of me.  I doubt I ever will be on the cover of Life magazine, as she once was, but otherwise we tic off similar life boxes.

Nina’s granddaughters came to live with her when they were ten and twelve.  That was just about ten years ago.  The oldest graduated college a year ago, the youngest is still in college.  They both are red heads.  I never got a red headed grandchild.

Heaven, her oldest granddaughter, came home from high school and announced, six weeks in, she was dropping out of band, but the band teacher wouldn't let her drop without a note from Nina.  Nina agreed to write the note, but told Heaven she must try and settle her problems with the teacher first, before using Nina’s note excusing her from band.

The next night Heaven was able to announce that although she would not play any instrument available in the band room she was staying in the band because the music teacher had brought her personal instrument in and introduced it to Heaven.  Heaven loved it and would be playing the mellophone. 

The music teacher’s return note thanked Nina for writing that Heaven had to solve her own problem, which the teacher said, was a case of the young lady being so critical of every instrument in the band room that even the saxophone tickled her lips.  The mellophone was worth a shot, and it worked.  The notes, of course, a ploy to buy time.


Heaven attended West Virginia University and went with the band to bowl games in more states than she could ever visit on her own. Now she’s playing the mellophone in the United States Air Force, and marches in great parades from time to time, not a little due to the wisdom of the old fogies. 



17 comments:

  1. And Heaven must have one of the proudest grandmothers!!

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  2. We oldies do know a thing or two.

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  3. A wise friend. You are blessed to have her in your circle.

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  4. And i'm glad Heaven gave it time, not stomped off.

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  5. It's nice to read good news like yours. Congrats to all concerned!

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  6. I'd never heard of a mellophone, but admire the way y'all handled the not so mellow situation. Heaven sounds like a child/adult to be proud of!

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  7. A mellophone? Wow! I've never heard of that. High 5s to the music teacher and Nina. They were very wise.

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  8. Joanne, thank you for sharing that story, it was good.

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  9. Nina, and you, are inspirational. How I wish I had been lucky enough to have someone like you in my life BEFORE I discovered the blogosphere. And I had never heard of a mellophone before - thanks for the link and the education.

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  10. So glad that you shared a picture of the mellophone; I never heard of it. What a great story about Heaven and her accomplishments and the wisdom of her grandmother so many years ago.

    betty

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  11. Inspiration comes in wonderful packages--like your blog. I'd not heard of a mellophone before. Gonna check it out! Thank you, again, Joanne.

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  12. Joanne you are such a wonderful story teller - thank you.

    What a pretty name Heaven is; just like Summer which I've just heard mentioned on the radio & the presenter commented what a lovely name it is. I wasn't brave enough to go for less conventional names.

    You & Nina are inspirational grandmothers.

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  13. I never knew what a mellophone was, although I've seen them in marching bands. Thank you for the link. I'm glad Heaven had such a wise grandmother and teacher, just the sort of encouragement needed during teen years.

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  14. As others have commented, I never heard of this instrument. That is good lesson and so opposite of the helicopter parents you heard about today. I wonder if she tires of the "oh thank Heaven" phrase.

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  15. This old gal has no clue what that instrument is but does know the wisdom of mamas and grandmas. Brilliant.

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