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Video Reflection on Dying #13--Looking Back on My Life, part 7: THE INCREDIBLE BLESSING OF MUSIC!
Claude LeBlanc NOTE: I'm writing these reflections on the lessens learned during my life as I face death due to ALS at the request of my children, but I thought there might be something for others to benefit from. My hope is that you will be blessed by the blessings of my life.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
If there’s one thing that has been constant throughout my life, it’s the incredible blessing of music. From as young an age as I can remember, the sound of music captivated me. Like most everything else, it’s been a source of joy and struggle.
My earliest memories are hearing the Hank Williams and Johnny Cash records my father had, and trying to play his right-handed guitar upside-down. At about seven or eight, one of my dad’s sisters and her husband were visiting from Canada and bought me a small toy organ. It fascinated me! I experimented with sounds and wrote simple compositions. Unfortunately, neither of my parents encouraged me to get lessons; and in the family dynamic, I dared not ask. I often wonder how differently my life would have turned out if I had received them.
However, in 8th grade, my school started a band, and I chose to learn trumpet. That decision changed my life! As I said in a previous reflection, my mother allowed me to choose from the three Salesian high schools in the area. I chose the one with the best band—Don Bosco Technical Institute.
My father worked as a machine operator in a factory in nearby Vernon and was happy I would “learn a trade.” There was no expectation that I would go to college; my father had to work on the family farm full-time after 6th grade, and my mother had not completed high school before getting married.
The happiest moments of my four years of high school were being in the band. We had over 70 members and were one of the best in the area. The director, Bro. Gene Burns, had spent many years building up the program. I experienced things I never would have otherwise, like parades in San Francisco and Santa Maria, events such as California 500 Indy car races, numerous competitions among other things. My best friends were in the band. My mentorship under Bro. Burns was the main reason I joined the Salesians after high school; I wanted to work with him. But, as you’ll see in a future reflection, that never happened.
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