Credits: Laurel Danley

This Family Rocks

Black Hills Family Magazine·October 31, 2014

I love that no matter what comes, music will be there for them, when their voices cannot find the words–their music will.

My mother was only nine years old when a drunk driver took her mother from her. A few pain-filled years later, my grandpa married my grandma Mozelle, a beautiful soul who shared her gift of music with my mother. That music saved my mom—giving her a way to express emotions that could not be put into words.

I began playing when I was five; music lessons came, and recitals went by, and I grew up. Music had been a part of my whole life, and yet with marriage, school, jobs, and children, my life had crowded out the music. Our kids started growing up, and I regretted they didn’t have the connection with music—the way I had.

That changed when Christian, our oldest child, announced he wanted to play the electric guitar, my husband and I surprised him with one for his 10th birthday. Little did I know, that gift to Christian would become a gift to our whole family.

Soon after, our daughter Anna (8), saved up her money to pay for half of an acoustic guitar. My husband, David, was enjoying the kid’s lessons at Haggerty’s so much, the kids and I gave him an acoustic guitar for Father’s Day. The joke at our now “3-person lessons” was that all they needed was some bass—so I jumped at the opportunity. It was intimidating after all these years–but here was the chance to grow alongside my children. Recently, on our youngest son Joshua’s 7th birthday we gave him an acoustic guitar. Now, after all these year, I’m playing music again—with my children—just like my mom.

I love what music is bringing out in my family.

I love that it brings the courage to try something new, and teaches that when you make mistakes
in music, as in real life, you keep on going…the song doesn’t stop and neither does life.

I love that it brings out their strengths, and weaknesses. My children are learning who they are and what comes easy to them–and what takes practice.

I love that just as I heard my mom’s heart,
I can hear theirs, and that is the most beautiful sound of all!