A Personal Message from … Carol Anne
As our Kindermusik semester came to a close I received a phone call saying that my 95 year old father in Canada had suffered a fall. I was able to visit him last weekend, spend time at his bedside and as I said my good byes, I sang a favorite family hymn. On December 22 he went to be with Jesus and was reunited with my mother who passed away 8 years ago.
And while I would normally use this email to thank all of you for your wonderful support of my Kindermusik program for which I am so grateful, I must also include a special tribute to my father.
My dad would say that he was not musically gifted (although he was self taught on the violin and the recorder) but he certainly upheld the value of music in our home. And while my mother was the primary piano teacher for my 3 brothers and myself, on a meager, one wage-earner income my father also provided the opportunity for private music lessons. This included voice and piano lessons for me so that I could complete the Royal Conservatory of Music Program to a Grade Eight level.
This is how I developed my love of music and I must say thank you once again for the investment my father made in my life by providing these opportunities for me and for encouraging me in my endeavors. I am living proof that the gift that lasts a lifetime is … the gift of music.
Tomorrow we will all sit around our Christmas trees and open the many gifts we have selected to show our love. But always remember that the best gift we can give is time spent with our loved ones. That’s why I so enjoy offering Kindermusik classes that bring parents and children together for a few precious moments each week where all the cares of the day can be left at our classroom door and you can just focus completely on your “little one”. Now that is a precious gift and an incredible investment!
And I’m remembering too that the best gift this world ever received was the tiny baby in the Bethlehem manger. Tonight, around the globe, people pause to celebrate His birth, born on that “Silent Night” so many years ago.
May you and your family have a beautiful, musical Christmas, filled with the hope, joy and love that Jesus came to give us.
Thanks for the opportunity to share my heart with you tonight,
Carol Anne