A Gift of Music

Music has always played a integral role in my life. Involvement in music gave me endless opportunities and contact with people that I would never have had otherwise. One such man was Mr. B Somewhere along the way Mr. B forgot that music was supposed to be fun. He was a band teacher and universally mocked and despised. He was kind of weird, definitely sad and always angry. In our odd way we got along. He always wanted to hear me play the piano and when I went off to university to study piano he gave me Moussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition and said he wanted to hear me play it when I came back for a visit. When I went to New York to continue my studies he gave me a pile of music that he said was just kicking around in his basement collecting dust.

One day I received a letter from my mom informing me he had died. When I returned home I told my mom I wanted to go see his wife and just let her know , I don't know what exactly but I guess that he had had a student that had liked him. That was when she told me he had committed suicide. I was shocked because suicide is shocking but I wasn't shocked that Mr. B had taken his own life. I decided I still needed to pay my respects.

When I met her I was startled. She was originally from India and a little person. That is only important because of what I found out in that first meeting. I knew Mr. B was not the sanest person or the nicest person but I had no idea he was a monster. A monster he was. It was a most horrifying realization to discover the trail of destruction he had left behind and that this woman and her children had completely fallen through the cracks. The most amazing thing I can say about this woman is that she was not broken, and she was not bitter. I don't know how. She had such a lovely, quiet dignity about her.

Mrs. B had not left the home in years because he would not allow it and it was painfully obvious that she was destitute and in real need.

I returned home a mess. I was 20 and had no idea what to do. My mother did. She said call the Salvation Army they will know what to do. She also said the Indian Association in town was known for looking after their own and she was sure they would be one of the first to be contacted by the Salvation Army. I called and they answered that call for help.

I returned to my studies and within a week my mom called and said the Indian Association was in full force painting and fixing up her house.

The Salvation Army convinced Mrs. B it was ok for her to leave her home. They taught her how to survive a world that had been closed off to her and they gave her her first job. The Indian Association opened their arms to her and welcomed her as if a long lost relative had finally returned to the fold which I guess was kind of true.

Whenever I return home I call her up and she serves me tea and then takes me for a walk through all the shops in town to introduce me to all her friends. She now belongs to the Salvation Army and is doing for others what they had done for her.

She does not know and never will know who made that first call. Mr. B I think your giving me that music was for a reason only the reason turned out to be far different than either one of us realized.