Happy Birthday Emily!

Emily’s Musical Braces

by

Grandma Baadsgaard

Happy Birthday Emily.

This is a story I wrote just for you.

Never forget to listen to the music inside you.

I love you so very much.

            When Emily woke up on the first day of summer break from school, she heard music playing in her head. It sounded just like a full orchestra between her ears.

             Emily hummed along with the music for a few minutes. Then she decided to think about something else. She thought about what she wanted for breakfast. But the music wouldn’t stop playing. Emily was slightly bewildered but this had happened before, especially after practicing the piano. Sometimes the rhythm in a song she was practicing was difficult and Emily had to practice that part over and over. Long after she was through practicing, that part of the song would play over and over in her head. She even found herself tapping the rhythm out with her fingers. But the piano practicing music in her head would eventually stop.

Not so on this morning. This full orchestra playing inside her wouldn’t stop. Emily shook her head but the notes wouldn’t fall out. She tried jumping up and down but the music inside her head just got faster.

Well this is strange, Emily thought. What am I going to do now?

Emily really didn’t want to tell anyone about her dilemma because they might think she was a bit odd; so she just got dressed and walked into the kitchen for breakfast. She could see her mother’s lips moving but the music in her head drowned out what she was saying. Emily just nodded politely and smiled hoping what her mother said was not too important. Emily was relieved that she didn’t have to go to school that day because she was pretty sure she would get in trouble if she couldn’t hear what the teacher was saying.

Emily did a lot of smiling and nodding that morning. No one seemed to notice that she couldn’t actually hear them. In fact her sister Sandy seemed to want to talk to her more than usual because Emily was such a smiling, nodding good listener. Emily could tell what her little brother Andrew wanted without words because he always used a lot of body language. Libby gave her lots of hugs.

After breakfast Emily opened the back door and walked down the steps into her back yard. Their house was at the end of the street and was surrounded with wide open fields. Emily sat in the swing and listened to the music inside her head while she watched the birds fly over-head. She listened to the music inside her head as she watched the sun rising over the eastern horizon. Emily felt like she was a movie star in a movie about her own life. Then she closed her eyes and just listened. The music swelled and then grew quiet. She leaned her head back while holding fast to the swing and felt the wind wash over her while the slow peaceful part of the song played.

When she opened her eyes she saw her daddy standing in front of her with his arms outstretched for a hug. Emily jumped from the swing and hugged her dad.

She knew her dad was good at fixing things so she yelled, “Daddy I can’t hear anybody talking to me because there is music inside my head that just keeps playing.”

“You’re probably picking up radio signals because of your braces,” her daddy yelled back. “Try sticking out your tongue and putting your finger in your right ear.”

Emily did just what her father said. Sure enough the music stopped and they didn’t have to yell at each other anymore.

“Thanks daddy,” Emily said.

Later that day, Emily was drawing at the kitchen table and she started to miss the music she heard all morning. Her daddy wouldn’t be home for hours to fix this problem so she tried to think of what to do. She tried waving her arms and smiling real big so her braces could catch the signals. But nothing worked. She walked out the back door and sat down on the steps. She looked up at the sky and watched a bird fly by. She felt the wind on her face. She noticed the sun sinking into the west. Then she placed her right hand over her heart and stroked her fingers in three soft circles.

The music began to play. Only this time Emily could control the sound, volume and tempo of the music inside her. Her heart created music to fit what she was feeling. Emily created loud, lively music when she felt like dancing. She created sad music when she felt like crying. Emily created soft soothing string orchestra music when she wanted to fall sleep at night.

Emily never lost her gift of music. She never felt alone again. Whenever she needed silence, she stuck out her tongue and put her finger in her right ear. Whenever she wanted full orchestral accompaniment to her scary, happy, gloomy, or remarkable day, she rubbed her heart three times.

Then her music began.     

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