A Conversation With Lindsay

Lindsay decides to practice playing piano, and then comes to me and asks me what a certain song is. She begins humming "Fur Elise". I look up a recording of it for her, and we listen to it.

Me: This is by Beethoven, who also did Ode to Joy, which you played in your recital.

Lindsay: Was Beethoven a famous composer?

Me: Um, yes.

Lindsay: He's my favorite.

Me: Cool.

Lindsay: I wish I could meet him.

She sighs and looks wistful.

Lindsay: What did he look like?

I google it for her, and it leads to a page with some random trivia about him.

Me: He started to go deaf in his 30's, and was completely deaf when he wrote his Ninth Symphony.

Lindsay: So he couldn't hear the people clapping for him?

Me: Nope, two musicians had to turn him around so he could see the audience clapping.

She looks devastated.

Me: Hey, you'll like this, it says here his favorite foods were macaroni and cheese, fish and potatoes, and bread pudding!

She gasps.

Lindsay: Macaroni and cheese?! That's one of MY favorite foods! We must be related a little bit.

She looks smug, and then walks back to the piano and begins playing again, writing the notes of the song she is making up in crayon on a piece of paper.

(Who knows, maybe in 200 years there will be a young piano player learning about Lindsay, the famous composer. A mom can dream.)