by Patty Marinelli

Created on: October 18, 2009

The auditorium grew quiet in anticipation as she placed the bow on the strings to play. The music in her soul flowed through her fingers in syncopation with her bow. The bow that she rosined before tuning her violin pressed on the strings. This experience had been so long in waiting. This one moment was a result of a lifetime of practice, playing the same notes over and over.

She always wanted a guitar for Christmas and ended up with a ukulele. Once you master the ukulele you will get the guitar, her parents had told her. Taking this as a challenge, the ukulele was mastered in three months. This gift was not a disappointment for her, but was the first of many stepping-stones to get her to the dream of creating music. Tapping into the music that was in her heart was like a hunger. Any method of creating these melodies was welcomed with eagerness.

As time went on she was given her brother's violin to play. You are enrolled in the string program in school, her mother said on her first day of fifth grade. Thus, began the years of instruction in the mastery of being a violinist.

Playing a musical instrument in high school can be a real pox on a girl's quest for popularity. The stigma of playing in orchestra or band was created by a group of insecure, jealous teenagers who relished in making others squirm. But she carried her violin case through the hall like it was no big deal and hoped everyone else would feel the same. She was a member of the pom pom team and still carried her violin case home with her everyday from school. Other students in school didn't quite know how to categorize her. Was she a nerd? Was she part of the elite group of jocks and cheerleaders? She was in a class of her own, and she held her head up high.

Summers spent at orchestra camp instead of pom pom camp put a distance between any friendships she made with the popular group of girls. The nine hour days of practice led to a constant red mark on her neck and calloused finger tips. But she wore these marks with pride; it was a sign of accomplishment.

Graduation from high school was another step towards reaching her goal. A full tuition scholarship guaranteed her placement in the college of her dreams. Hours spent alone in the practice rooms certainly didn't help her socially advance, but she couldn't stop the desire to tap into her soul. Repeating the melodies over and over until she reached perfection. A few moments of performance was the result of years and years of playing the same notes over and over.

So as all the eyes in the audience were watching her, waiting for her to share her life's work, she placed the bow on the strings of her violin to play. Her hard years of striving for perfection in the love of her life came to this one shining moment. Would anything after this moment ever compare? In the midst of her performance, opening her soul to the crowd of open ears, she realized that her life work was meant for this moment. She realized that every soul listening had danced with her soul during the moments she had played. She had shared the feeling she had since she was old enough to remember. And she knew then, with substantial certainty, that this could never be the end. That she didn't play her violin just for the sole purpose of performing. She played her violin to feed her soul.

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