Gratitude Post #20

Today I am grateful that our violin teacher, Shari Parris, kept teaching my children after Chloe threw up on me at the first lesson we took with her.  Now a little explanation.  Dillan started taking violin lessons when he was about seven from a teacher that we called "Tsunami".  This was not a reflection on her playing style or personal hygiene, but her name was Hisami, so it rhymed and we went with it.  If anything, it was the antithesis of her personality, which I would call reserved at best.  Whenever Dillan had his lesson, it didn't matter if he rocked the Twinkles or messed up, her response was the same.  We had to drive twenty minutes and Olivia was a baby, so I started shopping for a teacher closer to us.  My friend, Laura, who may or may not be better than me, told me about the teacher the Sophia went to, Miss Shari.  I called her and knew instantly that I loved her because she sang a response to me on the phone.  A kindred spirit.  I figured since Dillan was starting, why not Chloe too?  The first lesson was directly after the first swim team practice of the summer.  Chloe had been telling me that her stomach was upset, but this was nothing new for her, so we went to the violin lesson.  Dillan was up first and Miss Shari was a JOY.  She is a born teacher.  She came up with the ways to teach each of her students to master their abilities.  So Chloe's turn was up.  She stood there with a pained look on her face and I was unsympathetic.  That is until she turned to me and said one last time "Mom, I don't feel......BLECH" and proceeded to throw up on me as I sat on Miss Shari's couch. Miss Shari took it all in stride and helped us clean up and get us out the door, since the lesson was almost over anyway.  She never mentioned it again to Chloe, which was a good thing since Chloe was horrified about this and would not let us talk about it for a very long time.  Chloe did not keep up the violin like Dillan did, which was a good thing, since she had a pained look on her face when she played.  Dillan has continued his career and is still in the high school orchestra playing sixth chair, he tells me.  Miss Shari also taught Olivia in a music class and taught her violin for a few months, but that proved to be a waste of money since Olivia is destined for the stage, but not behind a fiddle.  All of my children have benefited from Miss Shari's vivacious, infectious personality.  We always looked forward to our lessons, even more so when there was consistent practice.  One of my children almost poked her eye out with their bow.  She saw me "blossom" with Blake.  She knew that I always wanted to shout "That's my baby!" at a violin recital, but since they were held in a church I had to refrain (but I did think it in my head and said it at lessons).  I hope that she will still be teaching when I get ready to put Blake in violin lessons in a couple of years.  I am so grateful that she has shared her gift with our family.