Composing Herself

Where is Christmas music better than at a children's recital?

Jess (4) was the first on the program the other night, and she was as poised as a professional violinist. She marched up, said her name and song loudly into the microphone, and took a bow after her perfect performance, as calm as could be.

Her older sister is a composer as well as a pianist. The kids were all telling me their favorite songs: "Twinkle, Twinkle," "Jingle Bells," "Rudolph!" Chloe (6) casually said "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring." She played that in the recital.

One day while she was practicing the piano, she composed The Einstein Polka. "I just wrote down the notes while I figured out a tune." She's even got pedal written in (it's hard to know what the E, or backwards 3 means. I may not be advanced enough to recognize the symbol.)

I don't know if Mozart's grandparents kept copies of his first pieces, but I've got this filed away, just in case I ever have to prove that I knew her when.

I've always known we're children of God, but I've decided it would be better to be grandchildren. We'd all be guaranteed a place in heaven. After all, there's nobody more perfect than a grandchild!