When I wrote the Editor's Note for the April issue of Southwest Florida Parent & Child magazine, Florida had 13 people who tested positive for COVID-19. We were all still working in our offices. Event organizers were still sending press releases about upcoming fun and fundraisers. When we sent the April issue to the printer, the world was a very different place.
Adapting to this challenging time can be difficult. But I know in the very near future we will be spending time once again socializing with our family and friends, enjoying our area beaches and gathering for special occasions.
We hope the stories from this month's SW FL Parent & Child continue to serve your family. Some, like our travel story, may help you escape the anxiety and stress of this temporary normal we're all experiencing. Others may provide you with information that will be helpful later. And still others aim to provide you with guidance and expert advice to help your family weather this strange new storm.
P&C: See the entire April 2020 issue of SW FL Parent & Child magazine.
Editor's Note
From the April 2020 issue of SW FL Parent & Child
Brian Tietz
Pamela Hayford
Editor of Southwest Florida Parent & Child magazine
I remember the moment I fell in love with the piano. A teenage girl from Germany was staying with my family as part of the Rotary Club’s student exchange program. She played piano, but my family didn’t have one. I remember one day being in a music store with her. I don’t remember if it was at the mall and we just happened upon it or if it was a purposeful move on my parents’ part, but there we were in a big store full of pianos — uprights, baby grands, shiny glossy curves and cool ivory keys. Tina sat down at one. She tinkered a bit. And then her fingers flew. “House of the Rising Sun” bellowed from the piano’s open soundboard. I was in awe.
My parents ended up buying a used piano, so that Tina could keep up her practice. My brother and I got lessons. I took private lessons into high school, and piano led to six or so years playing in the school band, first in middle school, then the high school marching and concert bands. Playing music helped me make friends, helped soothe my stressed-out soul and simply gave me joy.
I didn’t go on to be a famous rock star or an accomplished opera singer, but music filled me. It’s still a part of me. Every time I edit a story, I hear its rhythm in my head, and sometimes out loud as I whisper the words into my cupped hand. Music makes me a better writer and editor. Those lessons when I was a kid still ring true with me as an adult.
In the April issue of SW FL Parent & Child, local performing artists and instructors talk about helping students take their art to the next level with private one-on-one classes. In this issue, you’ll also get to meet Emily Feichthaler, a talented young woman who you just might hear singing the national anthem at a ball game this summer. April is also the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, and we take a look at some unusual “green learning” opportunities in Southwest Florida. There’s more. So much more. So sit back and enjoy.
