Connecting to the Past

I recently had an interesting connection in my career. As I look back on what got me to the place I am now, it took me a while to discover what it was that I wanted to do with my career. I took a rather unconventional journey to get the point where I am now in that my degree is in theater and not marketing. Also, I am often labeled as the “creative one” in my family because I'm the only one that has a job in marketing and the only one that has done work in the performing arts. However, I recently had an interesting discovery about someone very special to me. A few years ago, my grandmother Marguerite entered the phase of her life in which she needed to live in a nursing home. When this transition occurred my aunt, who manages her day-to-day affairs, gave me a couple of very special gifts that helped me feel a deeper connection to my grandmother.
The first of these was a literary magazine in which my grandmother was published in 1935. I found this very inspiring because I enjoy creative writing myself and I too was published for the first time some 60 years later than my Grandmother in 1995.
Secondly, I received two of my grandmother's college yearbooks. She had attended St. Mary's College in Leavenworth, Kansas and graduated with a degree in mathematics in 1933. As I look through the yearbooks I discovered many ways in which my grandmother and I are similar. One is that she, in addition to mathematics, excelled in literature--something I've always prided myself on. I also discovered that she had a love of the arts and of language and was a member of the drama club. She had also played golf which is something I pretend to play as well. Upon further inspection I discovered that my grandmother had been the illustrator for her yearbook. There wedged inside of one of the yearbooks was a proof that she had made. (A “proof” is a document that when received back from the printing company requires your signature to ensure its accuracy.) It was very interesting to see that the proofing process hadn't changed much in the 70+ years since the yearbook was published.
As I continue to expand my knowledge base of chamber music and grow more with our organization, something I have enjoyed is connecting to the past through the art of music. In this instance not only was I able to connect to the past but I was also able to discover a possible source of my talents. I look forward to carrying out the legacy of not only great composers but also that of my grandmother.

My Granmother at St. Mary's College in 1930