Naturally, piano wasn't one of the options (I played a mean electronic organ at home), so I wasn't paying that much attention. For some reason, fourth-graders could only play stringed instruments such as the violin.
They gave us a demonstration of the various instruments, and still, I wasn't interested.
Until the guy with the cello showed up.
I was intrigued by the fact that, unlike most of the other instruments, to play the cello meant you got to sit down.
Hey, I'm lazy.
But what really sold me was when he started playing the theme to Star Wars on it. How badass was that? I'd be the life of the party in no time.
Now there were a few obstacles in my way here. The instruments, I'd heard from friends, were very expensive, and being a total klutz, I knew there was no way I could convince my parents to buy me a cello outright.
Oh, and there was the small matter of me never having played the cello or any other stringed instrument, unless you counted the Mousegetar I had when I was 4.
There was essentially one way for me to be able to play cello in the orchestra. There was a district-wide music test that would be given in all the schools, and the top students would be allowed to use the district-owned instruments.
And out of all the students interested, only two in our school would get the cellos. So the odds weren't exactly in my favor.
The day of the test came, and we musical wannabes filed into the multipurpose room and did our best.
As it ended up, the two students who got the district's cellos were my friend Erin and me. Don't ask me how I was a top scorer. To this day, I have no idea.
And while I never learned how to play Star Wars (apparently you can't just start with that; who knew?), I was still excited to play in a school recital.
How excited?
Yep. About that excited. How I ever ended up getting married is beyond me.
