Norine in a Dream

My wife came downstairs this morning to join me for coffee on the patio and tell me about her dream. She had dreamt about her piano teacher, Ms. Beckner. 1972. Hobart, Indiana. Cheryl began taking piano lessons. Every Monday evening, Cheryl's mom, Peggy, would drive her to Ms. Beckner's house for a 5:30 pm lesson. One-half hour. The lesson cost $4.50. Peggy would give Cheryl a $5.00 bill, and she got to keep the change. Peggy would wait in the car and read during the lesson. This routine lasted for 10 years. From a seven year-old little girl to a seventeen-year-old young woman, Cheryl and Ms. Beckner shared a half an hour each week studying the piano. Mozart, Mendelssohn, Chopin...and countless others. The great composers. 88 keys. A foundation of music that shaped a lifetime. A woman who dedicated her life to teaching music.
The dream was so real, she said. Ms. Beckner appeared as a young woman. The house was the same. Everything was just as she remembered it. That was long ago now.
Just a few years ago, we went back to Indiana to spend Christmas with Cheryl's family. It's a long drive, and along the way our conversation turned to childhood memories. We drove by the exit Cheryl's mom used to take from the highway to get to Ms. Beckner's house. "I wonder how she is doing?" The next day, Cheryl and her mom talked about her piano lessons and Ms. Beckner and Cheryl decided to call her. Peggy still had the number...it was the same number as it had been in 1972. She was in her nineties now. She remembered Cheryl. She put Cheryl on speaker so both she and her husband could talk. It all came back. She loved hearing that music was still a big part of Cheryl's life. The piano that Cheryl's dad bought for her in 1978 is in our living room. Merry Christmas they said. It is so nice to hear from you.
Upon awakening, Cheryl reached for her phone and Googled Ms. Beckner. An obituary. Sadly, she had passed away this past October. She was ninety-four years old. A lifetime of music...seventy years of teaching. Over six hundred students. She had studied at the Cosmopolitan School of Music of Chicago and the Chicago Conservatory of Music.
The dream....what did it mean? We talked about that. Ms. Beckner wanted Cheryl to know she had left us. And that she was OK. That the music they shared was still alive within both of them. The piano had brought them together...the music had cemented their bond. Teacher and student. Mozart, Mendelssohn, Chopin...and many others. Great music. Here and beyond.