Piano
I was three years old when my mother first sat me at her piano. At the moment I felt like I had just gotten an amazing new toy. As she lifted me onto the bench, I became a king sitting on his royal throne. I thought that my hands would magically float on the keys, just like my mother’s. I tried my best but, to my bewilderment, I wasn’t able to re-create Chopin’s Waltz as my mother had so effortlessly done moments ago. I looked at the sheet music in front of my eyes, hoping for some insight. I banged on the keys for a few more minutes, figuring something was wrong with the piano that wouldn’t magically play for me. Then, as I was about to hop off the bench, her delicate yet firm fingers pushed me back down onto it. Those firm hands were keeping my little fingers from my favorite cartoons and the toys. Eventually, the music coming from the piano became irritating. I no longer found it inspiring, moreover every time I would see a piano anywhere, it reminded me of my mother forcing me to study notes and to practice. This became so upsetting to me that I would often resort to tears. Eventually, I realized that I had no way out. At any moment my mother would anxiously arrive home and would teach me the music she found so inspiring.
Four years later, my grandfather asked me to play a piece for his birthday. I was reluctant at first. My friends were there and I felt like playing with them. Crumbling under my mother’s forceful gaze, I sat down in front of the piano. At the time I was already able to play with both hands. Even though I didn’t play anything extraordinary as I began to play, the crowd quickly quieted. After finishing my last chord, I jumped up, ready to run off to join my friends. However, I was stunned by the astonishment on everyone’s faces. In their eyes, I saw what music had come to mean to me as well, a place of solitude and beauty.
For the first time in my life, I didn’t think of “Tom & Jerry,” toys or friends. Instead, I realized that I actually loved playing the piano. I began to look forward to my mother coming home at night and listening to me play. Piano became a big part of my life. To this day, piano can take me away from the world when I play it, no matter what is going on in my life. Looking back, I am so thankful that my mother forced me to play, because now I know how much I would have missed.