By: Lois Ash, Milford Branch Director

Back in fourth grade, my teacher gave us each a half-sheet of paper on which was listed the names of musical instruments. I was supposed to select an instrument to play! Unfortunately, I had missed the demonstration day at school. OK… I can do this….Flute! But my parents wanted me to try something different. I thought that the trumpet and trombone were for boys, and no one corrected me on that misconception. Fine. I looked down the list. I asked my mother, “What’s a French horn?” “It’s a shiny curly thing,” she said, waving her hands, drawing loops in the air. That was it. Decision made. A week later, I came home dragging this monstrous case, which scraped on the ground when I carried it. (I eventually tied it to a skateboard.) What was in that case shaped the rest of my life.

The French horn has taken me from terrorizing the neighborhood from my back porch as a 10-year-old to European castles, the beaches of Bermuda, a bustling city in Mexico, the cornfields of Nebraska and finally to Delaware. I’ve been a musician, an advocate, an administrator and a patron. Had I not been involved in music, who knows what other opportunities would have presented themselves. I would not trade my musical journey for anything else. I saw the world; I met my closest friends; I found jobs that were rewarding; and I met my husband — all because of music.

It is never too early or late to begin a musical journey. Music is for everyone. There are early childhood classes for babies, lessons for adults and classes for seniors. Where will your journey take you? You won’t know until you get started.