Clair de "Looney"

About 3 or 4 years ago, my cousin Rozie told me that she had found a hand-written note in my Gramma D's house that said "I want Michonne to play Clair de Lune at my funeral."  Gramma was always doing stuff like that; she told us stuff that she wanted at her funeral, she put little post-it notes on items in her house saying whom it was bequeathed to upon her death, etc.  She had done these things for years, so I didn't think too much about the note and of course I figured I had plenty of time to learn Clair de Lune.  I was familiar with the tune, mostly from movies like Oceans 11, but I had never played it before.

I found a copy of it online and printed it out and then sat down at the piano to try to sight-read it.  I then crapped my pants.  It was, by far, harder than anything that I've ever played in my life.  I used to be a decent pianist, but since stopping piano lessons at age 17, it's been kind of a "use it or lose it" thing with my piano talent.  I've not used it much, so I've lost a lot of talent.  Anyway, I began learning the song page by page and made some progress.  But eventually I was tired of it and Gramma was still really healthy so I gradually stopped practicing.

Last Saturday night after what I knew would be my last visit with Gramma, I knew I better break out the sheet music again and get to work.  I practiced a lot on Sunday and felt pretty discouraged; there was no way that I could get it ready in time.  I knew the funeral was today which gave me 4 days to practice.  Bryan left for a trip to Ohio on Monday morning and I got to work.  Poor Miles and Tess heard that song so many times that they probably know it by heart.  I was going a little bit looney as well.  But, it was slowly coming along.  I had to modify some of the song to fit my skill level (like I completely cut out a section in the middle because it was just excruciating) and there were many chords with 3 or 4 notes in each hand and I opted to just play 1, or maybe 2.  But, it was sounding pretty good.  And then...

I googled Clair de Lune and found this clip on YouTube.  After listening to this incredibly talented person knock the song out of the park I was ready to give up.  There was no way I could ever play it like that.

Eventually I decided that my sweet Gramma D wouldn't care, and that it was the thought that counted.  So, I just did my best and kept practicing.  When performing for a group I always get nervous and my hands get shaky.  Not good for a piano solo.  I was very afraid that during the actual performance I'd get shaky, make big mistakes, and then just not be able to recover.  But today at the funeral the opening hymn was "Lord, I Would Follow Thee" and in the first verse there is a line that says "finding strength beyond my own."  When I sang those words I had a great feeling; I decided that if the song was going to sound OK, I would have to lean upon someone else's strength.  I knew my Gramma and my mom would be listening to this song and that they would give me the strength to stay calm.  And guess what?  It went great!  Of course the song wasn't absolutely perfect, and it didn't sound quite like the YouTube clip, but it was probably the best I have ever played it, ever. 

The rest of the funeral was beautiful as well.  The speakers all did a great job, and the grandchildren and great-grandchildren performed a song together that went well too.  It was a wonderful service and a great celebration of my gramma's life.

So, even though I was "clair de looney" this week, it was worth it and I hope my Gramma D enjoyed it.  Love you Gramma!