"Young people can learn from my example that something can come from nothing. What I have become is the result of my hard efforts." -Joseph Haydn
I suppose that we could call the last five days the pinnacle of Jessica's young musical life. When I started this little eight year old in piano lessons nearly ten years ago, my only aspirations were that she would one day be able to play the hymns. I guess I was never one of those "One day my child will be a proficient!" kind of parents. In fact, I wasn't even hopeful that my kids would gain a great love of music. I suppose I was shooting for mediocrity when it came to raising these kiddos. Which is why this whole week seemed a little surreal to me. I never imagined having a child with enough skill to even be considered for a music scholarship. Sometimes our children break free from the stifling paths of mediocrity that we set for them and fly off into the horizon with their own dreams and aspirations as their guide. If we're lucky enough, they'll drag us parents along for the ride.
Jessica drug us along for the ride up to Logan for her scholarship auditions on Saturday. Her appointment was scheduled for 10:40, and we were encouraged to get there 45 minutes early. I felt like we could leave at 9:00 and be just fine, but Neil insisted we leave at 8:30. That sounded like an awful lot of sitting around to me, but whatever.
This is Jessica's accompanist. This is the extremely talented woman that the Lord somehow guided from Las Vegas to a home in our ward just a few months before we left it. Speaking of proficients…she plays the violin as well as she plays the piano. In fact, she majored in violin performance and was an invaluable help to Jessica as she counseled her on what the professors may be looking for in a potential music student. We are so grateful to her for setting aside a Saturday to trek up to Logan with us to accompany Jessica.
Stacie followed behind us in her van. As usual, Neil was the inspired one this particular Saturday morning. Somehow none of us got the memo that there would be snow on Saturday morning. In fact, we didn't get the memo until about Roy, at which point we began sliding all over the freeway. I had just called Leslie to get instructions on where the performance building was, because of course our internet was down at 8:00 Saturday morning, and all she got on her end was the screams of a stark-raving lunatic on the other end of the phone. She might have heard an occasional, "Save the cello!" amongst the screams, but I'm not sure. It was touch and go for awhile, but then things kind of cleared up, and we thought we would be ok…until they forced us off the freeway in Perry. What?!!!!
It was at this point that Stacie called us and asked in the kindest of terms, "Where the heck are we?" To which we replied, "I have no idea!" We were heading to Utah State via the old highway. Lovely. The roads on the old highway were covered in snow. We had to take it pretty slow. I was starting to watch the clock with a little trepidation, but we had left in plenty of time. We would still make it on time…then we entered the canyon. It was a white-out! You've got to be kidding me!!!!!
Thankfully Neil was the one driving. We inched along the freeway at about 20 miles per hour, white-knuckled, saying very little. Every once in awhile, Neil would call sweet Stacie, who has spent her whole life in Las Vegas and is experiencing for the first time what we lovingly refer to as "Those Wretched Utah Winters". He would remind her that she might want to shift down so as not to have to push on her brakes as much, since braking could send her sliding all over the freeway. I'm sure this left her feeling all safe and assured inside. We watched as the clock moved closer to Jessica's audition time at an alarming rate. One thing was for sure. We would not be arriving 45 minutes early.
We did make it out of the canyon and into Logan, which was experiencing not so much as a snowflake. Thanks to Leslie's instructions, we found the building no problem. Well ok, there was a tiny problem. We missed the turn originally. Upon stumbling across the Logan cemetery, we clued in that we may no longer be on the Utah State campus, turned around, then found the building no problem.
And what do you know, the three auditions before Jessica had not arrived yet, due to closed down freeways and horrific road conditions in the canyon. Go figure. Perhaps if they had left at an excessively early time like we had, they would have been on time.
Jessica did have enough time to warm-up. We watched from a tiny window in the door backstage as she walked onto that large and foreboding stage and played for an empty auditorium save the four intimidating individuals perched on the front row. She played her Haydn concerto, a Bach cello suite, and an etude. She played beautifully! And then it was over. Six years of painstaking practice, all for ten minutes on the stage, followed by a brief applause and an assurance that she'll get a letter in two weeks.
Poor Jessica had been battling a brutal cold for two days. She walked out of the audition ready to collapse, but not before a photo in front of this gorgeous wall and some infamous Aggie ice cream.
Who knows whether Jessica is scholarship material. I don't know how many prodigies she may be competing against. She's not a prodigy, just a girl fiercely loyal to her instrument and to her music, a girl who got where she is from hard effort. What I do know is that she has exceeded any hopes and dreams I had for her at this age. Whether Utah State is willing to throw her any money or not, Jessica will probably be wearing this t-shirt in just a few short months. Yep, I can see her frequenting this little ice cream shop after a long day in the practice rooms, cello in hand, concertos running through her head. This mama blinks slowly and sighs deeply at the thought.
By the way, we made it home safe and sound. We bypassed the canyon and took the long way home. Aside from an unexpected stop sign in Fielding that almost brought the front of Stacie's van into the back of ours, with the cello smashed in between, we drove home without incident. Jessica got home, did not pass go, did not collect two hundred dollars, just went right to bed. Haydn and a head-cold will do that to you.
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