"Dream It Possible"

How well she remembered those first heady days of lessons. 

Finger exercises, scales, drills, those first simple melodies. 

She felt an echo of that rush of emotion that had come 

when she had learned that she had the

power to turn those printed notes into music.

More than twenty years had passed since that first day, 

that first lesson.

Unfinished Business

____________________

 Dream it possible

Delacey

____________________

“It felt wonderful. I felt wonderful. I wanted to step out on the stage, into

those lights. I wanted to play and have thousands of people listen. I

wanted. And it changed everything.”

“I’m glad for you.” He ran his hands up and down her arms before he

stepped back. “I am. I was worried.”

“It was glorious.” Hugging her arms, she spun away. “And in my heart

I know I never played better. There was such … freedom. I know I could

go back to all the stages, all the halls, and play like that again.”

Unfinished Business

Not-Your-Mama’s Tuna Casserole

“Because you don’t know what to do with a can of tuna?”

Unfinished Business

__________________________

Modern Tuna Casserole

Taste of Home

__________________________

“Wouldn’t I want to fix him a meal, something we could sit down to together, 

something we could talk over? Isn’t that something he would want? Expect?”

“Why don’t you ask him?”

“Damn it, Brady, don’t you see? I couldn’t make it work.”

“All I see is that you’re having trouble putting—” He leaned forward to

look at the disarray on the counter. “What is this?”

Her mouth moved into a pout. “It’s supposed to be a tuna casserole.”

“You’re having trouble putting a tuna casserole together.”

Unfinished Business

I moved back home

What am I doing here?

The question rolled around in Vanessa’s mind as she drove down Main Street.

Unfinished Business

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By Serge Melki from Indianapolis, USA - IPC - Silouhette - Greeted at the front door, CC BY 2.0, 

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this is how I am coping

The Sidney Morning Herald

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“You don’t have to fix me breakfast.” Vanessa’s voice was muffled by her hands.

“No trouble at all.” Loretta was humming as she poured milk into a bowl. She’d been cheated out of being a mother for twelve years. 
There was nothing she’d rather do than pamper her daughter with a hot breakfast.

Unfinished Business

The Sense of ‘Mine’

Vanessa managed an answering smile. 

“Thank you. The house looks lovely. It seems bigger somehow. 

I’d always heard that things shrunk as you got older.”

Loretta turned off the radio. 

Vanessa regretted the gesture, as it meant they were left with only

 themselves to fill the silence. 

“There were too many dark colors before,” Loretta told her. 

“And too much heavy furniture.

At times I used to feel as though the furniture was lurking over me, 

waiting to push me out of a room.” 

She caught herself, uneasy and embarrassed.

Unfinished Business

__________________

By Daniel Thornton - CeljeUploaded by sporti, CC BY 2.0, 

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People get attached to their stuff. Two-year-olds, for instance, have verystrong opinions about what’s theirs (“MINE!”), and are suspicious about sharing, no matter what nonsense their adult caregivers spew about thiscaring thing. And although (most) people eventually learn to follow appropriate social norms, that relationship to stuff and things still matters throughout the life span, and even, in a way, beyond it — when you’re gone, after all, your loved ones will likely inherit your most prized possessions. If nothing else, at least your memory will live on through, say, a particularly nice set of dresser drawers you once owned.

People express their self-identity through their belongings, a notion that psychologists and neuroscientists are lately finding empirical evidence to support, though the idea itself is of course not a new one.

SCIENCE OF US

__________________

When she was awake and wandering the apartment, she’d stop to touch

something—the back of a chair, the side of a table, the round dome of a

paperweight. She would think, Mine. My things, my apartment, my country.

Three Fates

finding true love

Vanessa listened to the monotonous plunk of the keys as Annie ground
out “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” 

She might have good hands, but so far Vanessa hadn’t seen her put them to good use.

Potential, Vanessa thought as she tried to smile her encouragement.
Surely there was some potential buried there somewhere.

Unfinished Business

_______________

Finding True Love: Helping Your Kid Choose The Right Instrument

 

 

If it's a "love match," the kid is more likely to stick with it. That's not to say that every day will be easy, of course — but if the child enjoys the sound and feeling of playing the instrument, all the better.

NPR

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“Mmm.” Sympathetic, Vanessa stroked her hair. “And what do you want to play?”
“Stuff like Madonna sings. You know, good stuff. Stuff like you hear on the radio.”

She slanted Vanessa a look. “My other teacher said that’s not real music.”
“All music is real music. We could make a deal.”
Suspicion lighted in Annie’s pale eyes. “What kind of deal?”
“You practice an hour every day on your finger exercises and the lesson I give you.” She ignored Annie’s moan. “And I’ll buy some sheet music. One of Madonna’s songs. I’ll teach you to play it.”
Annie’s sulky mouth fell open. “For real?”
“For real. But only if you practice every day, so that when you come next week I see an improvement.”
“All right!” For the first time in nearly an hour, she grinned, nearly blinding Vanessa with her braces.

 

Unfinished Business