My column requires a disclaimer this month because frankly, it amounts to little more than a grandfather bragging obnoxiously about his grandchildren. That written, I’ve been wanting to describe my musical family for a long time, but modesty prevailed until now. I’ve struggled to keep my pride reigned in on this subject but, like Benjamin Franklin, I tried to control my vanity only find I was proud of my humility.
A few months back I described my own musical deficiencies, though at the time I wanted to point out that they are more than balanced by the musical talent in my son’s family. As he was growing up, I saw no signs of our son John having any more musical inclination than his father. His mother had a high school orchestra and college choir background but her interest in music didn’t seem to have been contagious enough to infect our son. That is, until John married.
His wife Lisa plays the piano quite well and has a beautiful singing voice. Her musical interest comes from her father who once was a part of a touring group, “The Chapelaires.” They sang in churches and at revivals here in the Midwest.
Therefore, when I first heard my son’s fine tenor voice, inspired and nurtured by his mother and his new wife, I was quite surprised. He is a church pastor of music and education today for a local congregation.
As our grandchildren grew, their mother began teaching ea
