OK world, here’s a bit. I was awoken by music very young age, even learning one song on the piano. I lived in a little town in Santa Cruz County called Aptos California. Aside from acing the recorder in third grade I didn’t Marvel at the idea seriously playing a musical instrument. I was an excruciatingly shy kid, but I guess I still ran around House singing. So my older siblings One day placed a stool in the middle the kitchen, set up a microphone and PA and plopped me right in front of my mother and my father , to I guess sing, or show them I could sing. I didn’t get the memo, if So I didn’t know how to read anyway. So there I sat absolutely horrified, frozen to the seat of that stool, with big bugeyes while they stared from there kitchen table drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes. The only other thing that horrified me more was crying in front of my parents, but I still recall that my eyes welled up with tears that day. I was traumatized for years, the idea of performing anything in front of anyone things of nightmares… until six grade when I was seriously bitten by the bug to learn an instrument. I wanted to play drums but my mother said “No, they are too loud.” Flashing back to how insanely loud my debut performance was, I totally saw her point (?) though I never intended for anyone to actually “hear” me. I literally never used to ask for anything, well, except for a puppy every year. so I was like “Cummon Mom!” “no! Pick another instrument.” 
Think, think, think. Ugh, I didn’t have a Plan B. I was always running around drumming on everything. I never ran around blowing on things, or strumming things or whatever else you do things. Nothing else called my name. I was going through this process with my best friend Alley R.! And she was choosing to play the trumpet. The previous week, the music teachers Mr. Johnson (Aptos Jr. High music instructor) and Mr. Keller(Aptos High School music instructor) brought instruments for us to try. I remember I was pretty good at buzzing my lips in those little brass mouthpieces, maybe even better than Alley. Most kids couldn’t make a sound at all! And come to think of it both Mr. Johnson and Mr. Keller were trumpet players. So I surmised that maybe there something to that instrument. So I picked an ever so soft, quiet, brass instrument. Yep I picked a trumpet! But somehow actually ended up renting something closely related to the trumpet, the Cornet. Oh my God I loved it!  We were separated at birth. it was more rounded, smaller & pretty. it had a beautiful soft rich tone compared to those brassy sounding loud trumpets. The real kicker was nobody else picked it! nobody else played it!  I actually went through the rest of my playing years saying I played the trumpet as not many people knew what a cornet was. Pretty much every band I never been in I was just about the only Cornet ever. So back to six grade, I practiced every day, sometimes twice with Alley. Trish Trash Polka over and over and over. You got to wear my day was incomplete if I didn’t play, I had to play my horn. Alley got pretty good to we were soon being prepped for the path to entering one of the top High Schools Music programs in California! (Cue the dream music and thought bubble)
(Burst bubble) POP!!! Summer before entering high school I was hit with words that’s still leave me dumbfounded to this day. “Kids, we’re moving to Nevada” what? I thought why? Who moves “TO” Nevada? I just looked up and said “No! I need to play music in Aptos high school. That’s all I ever wanted. I’m not going in trees there!” I loved living in the forest near the ocean. When I wasn’t practicing I was out being nature girl. those are my two things, my whole jam right there, two things. i’m definitely not going. 

To be continued

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