A Meaningful Part of Life

by Paul Stoudenmire

As a child, my sister Anita showed artistic talent. She could draw, paint and was good at music, especially the piano. So good that our parents enrolled her for lessons at the former Cleveland Music School Settlement, now The Music Settlement, in the 1950's. They bought her a $1,000 upright piano so she could practice and develop her talent at home. Her lessons were in the afternoon after school. We kids and our mom would sit in her dark blue 1956 Buick, waiting while Anita took her lessons and got on each other's nerves. Anita finished and went on to play at weddings and other special events, including our brother's wedding in 1977. She participated in the Chorale at Denison University in Granville, Ohio. In her later years, she was on staff and played at the church where we grew up on Woodland Avenue. She continued there until her illness in 2011.

As far as me, I have liked music ever since I was a child. I started listening to the radio before I was 10 years old - popular hits, jazz, easy listening and religious music. I found music to be relaxing, comforting, inspiring and reflective. It brought back feelings, memories and experiences from meaningful times in my life. When I'm busy at work or at home, I like music to relax and focus. I've even stopped what I'm doing and turn the volume up to enjoy a song that "draws me in".

Music really hit home for me when I was in the Air Force, working directly on airplanes and with pilots. As you can imagine, it got very stressful at times. Especially when I did a tour in a war zone. Music really helped me calm down, gave me peace and cope with the stress there. I'm glad I turned to music instead of illicit things like some of my service mates did. One nice thing, though: I got a taste of being a pilot from working with the planes and during my tech school training. So, in 1989, I got my pilot license. It's been a BLAST ever since! Music is, and will always be, a meaningful part of my life.