No, I don’t mean the Madonna song or movie, both of which also came out in the 80’s. I’m talking about me, circa 1984. One of my high school alums, Aaron, who used to be on the yearbook committee posted a number of photos that he took during our Senior year, to his Facebook page. Aaron took the photo below of me.

My first reaction to seeing it on Facebook was, “Wow, I was a pretty girl! And I was a healthy weight! Boy did I waste a lot of time doubting those two facts.”

Then I felt a little guilty for feeling a sense of accomplishment about having been pretty in high school. As if I was personally responsible for my “good-looking at 18 years-old” genes. I do take credit for the fabulously feathered hair, however. I used to cut my own hair and spent hours of my youth with a curling iron to undo the natural curl and reform it into my Farrah best wave. So silly.

You might be wondering about the flute I was holding. I was a big time classical music nerd. I played in one of the Seattle Youth Symphonies, a woodwind quintet through Cornish Institute of the Arts, took private lessons, and saved babysitting money all year to pay for half of music camp, which I attended every summer for three years. While other people went to fun camps, I went to a three week camp where we rehearsed 5 ½ hours on Mondays through Fridays, after which I practiced another hour a day for the years I was in a chamber music group and another hour for my audition piece for the upcoming season of Seattle Youth Symphony. We got the day off on Saturdays and every Sunday we gave a concert. My fabulous parents attended every one of those concerts even thought it meant a three hour drive each way every week to see me.
I make fun of myself for being a classical music nerd. But really, the camp, which was run by the Seattle Youth Symphony was awesome, as was the youth symphony itself. Music made a great difference in my life during my adolescence. With that group of kids, it was not only okay to be a nerd, but celebrated.

So the flute in the photo is really important. It helped buffer me from the worries I had at the time about the rest of the picture, was I pretty, was I fat? Music was something simply beautiful without a visual appearance.

I haven’t played music in a really long time. Perhaps one day, I’ll come back to it. I realized yesterday that some of the experiences I’ve had during my mindfulness meditation and three mile walks are similar to those I had while playing music.

So who’s that girl? That girl used her love of music to survive high school!

Photo by Aaron Eidinger, circa 1984

I have been having trouble finding words to express about the elementary school shooting in Connecticut today. I keep thinking of the kids, the teachers, the very mentally ill person who murdered them as well as himself, and all of the families. I read the transcript of President Obama’s speech about it today and wanted to share it:

Text of President Barack Obama’s address to the nation after Friday’s mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school, as provided by CQ Transcriptions:

“This afternoon, I spoke with Governor Malloy and FBI Director Mueller. I offered Gov. Malloy my condolences on behalf of the nation and made it clear he will have every single resource that he needs to investigate this heinous crime, care for the victims, counsel their families.”

“We’ve endured too many of these tragedies in the past few years. And each time I learn the news, I react not as a president, but as anybody else would as a parent. And that was especially true today. I know there’s not a parent in America who doesn’t feel the same overwhelming grief that I do.”

“The majority of those who died today were children — beautiful, little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old. They had their entire lives ahead of them — birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own. Among the fallen were also teachers, men and women who devoted their lives to helping our children fulfill their dreams.”

“So our hearts are broken today for the parents and grandparents, sisters and brothers of these little children, and for the families of the adults who were lost.”

“Our hearts are broken for the parents of the survivors, as well, for as blessed as they are to have their children home tonight, they know that their children’s innocence has been torn away from them too early and there are no words that will ease their pain.”

“As a country, we have been through this too many times. Whether it is an elementary school in Newtown, or a shopping mall in Oregon, or a temple in Wisconsin, or a movie theater in Aurora, or a street corner in Chicago, these neighborhoods are our neighborhoods and these children are our children. And we’re going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.”

“This evening, Michelle and I will do what I know every parent in America will do, which is hug our children a little tighter, and we’ll tell them that we love them, and we’ll remind each other how deeply we love one another. But there are families in Connecticut who cannot do that tonight, and they need all of us right now. In the hard days to come, that community needs us to be at our best as Americans, and I will do everything in my power as president to help, because while nothing can fill the space of a lost child or loved one, all of us can extend a hand to those in need, to remind them that we are there for them, that we are praying for them, that the love they felt for those they lost endures not just in their memories, but also in ours.”

“May God bless the memory of the victims and, in the words of Scripture, heal the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds.”

Read more: Full text of Obama speech after Connecticut school shooting – The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_22194021/full-text-obama-speech-after-connecticut-school-shooting?source=rss#ixzz2F4GxRkqA
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