The Recital Where Everything Went Wrong

My nine-year-old's piano recital was in a church basement with folding chairs and a slightly out-of-tune upright. She had practiced "Für Elise" for four months.

Halfway through, she forgot the next part. Completely. She froze with her hands in the air. The room went silent. I held my breath.

Then she turned to the audience and said, "Hang on, I'll start over." Everyone laughed, kindly. She started over. This time she played it all the way through, and when she finished, she stood up and bowed so low her hair touched the floor.

She got the biggest applause of the night. Afterward, an older man came over and told her that starting over is the bravest thing a musician can do. She asked him if that was true. He said he'd been playing piano for sixty years and had started over more times than he could count.

She's practicing a new song now. She says she's ready to start over as many times as it takes.