The Musically-Talented Woman Who Could Teach

                This time of year always causes me to think of preparing for spring piano recitals. Had I had the mindset I have now, I would have devoted even more time to memorizing and practicing the selection Mrs. Wendell and I had decided I perform. I relish practicing more now than I ever have.

                Over 57 years ago, I met a genteel woman who shared my same love of music. Mildred Wedell drove from Hominy each week to provide private piano lessons to all willing to pay the $2.00 per lesson and practice daily. The petite, naturally-blonde piano “coach” coordinated with homeroom teachers for the best time to pull students for their thirty minutes of piano instruction.

                Mrs. Wedell served as the pianist at the Hominy Assembly of God Church. She worshipped weekly with her husband and their son and daughter. Her background fit perfectly with the primary goal of my maternal grandmother and my mother. Foremost, they wanted me to be a proficient enough to enhance a congregation in worshipful singing.

Although both grandmothers were musically-gifted, neither had any formal training in the piano or voice. Dad often commented what a “pretty voice” his mother, Mamie Irene Tripp Gates, had. Grandma Gates played keyboard instruments by ear. My oldest aunt, Ella Edith Gates Bledsoe, told me in our last visit prior to her death, “Mama only wanted to make music and draw.” She continued reiterating how her artistic bents had to take a backseat to her love and care for her family.

Grandma Gladys Rainey Smith moved to the “uncivilized” Bend when she was twelve so missed the opportunity to be given piano lessons as her oldest sister, Daisy Dean Rainey Rice, had received when they lived in Konawa, Oklahoma. My gutsy, determined grandmother taught herself the lines and spaces and to read music in the evening after working in the cotton fields as a teen-ager. She sang “note-perfect” alto until the stroke took her voice six months prior to her death.

Aunt Emma Rainey Buckley, my maternal grandmother’s youngest sister, made my mother’s goal possible by providing the tuition for one year of piano instruction. Aunt Emma attended various types of concerts during her career in Washington, D.C.

As a little third grader, I hung on each of her instructions and readily obeyed with one exception. I did not like to count aloud. Instead, I liked to pump my wrists as my “movement-oriented” method of correctly executing the timing of the piece. To Mrs. Wedell’s credit as a teacher, as well as my final willingness to follow her instruction, on a regular basis, when tackling a new challenging piece, I count aloud.  I have even written out and tapped the note values of the specific “spot” in an unfamiliar piece of music as my metronome sounds in my earbud.

As I reflected on her incalculable value to our school system, I recalled many spring recitals held usually at the Ralston Federated Church. Some of the students participating were Brent, Kevin, Robin, and Bruce Myers. Debbie and Kim Akers along with Beverly Goad and her neighbor, Tomasine Rainey polished pieces for the recital. (Kim and Tomasine entertained the parents and relatives with some rollicking pieces on their accordians!) I remember Robbie Sawyer and Mark Myers being students of Mrs. Wedell, too. My sister, Angie, was among some of the last students taught by Mrs. Wedell. 

Mildred Wedell with Bernadean
Gates following her first piano
recital at the Hominy Assembly
of God Church in the spring of
1964. - from the first photo album
I put together with the help of my
grandma who purchased the album
plus she helped me select the
 photos to fill.

She stressed striving for mastery as we practiced. Her goal for each student’s piece was encapsulated in the phrase, “concert performance.” Mrs. Wedell demanded “note perfect” presentation of each piece. Receiving one of the most gorgeous stickers from her collection of eagles, stars, birds, flowers and numerous others delighted the aspiring student. Having one of those stickers placed at the top of the perfected piece denoted the epitome of keyboard success for her students.

Mildred Wedell, as a devout follower of Jesus, obediently taught piano and accordian lessons in less than perfect situations, places like custodian storage areas and tiny rooms. 

She wanted her students to enjoy using their talent and rejoiced greatly when they played for corporate worship.

Many churches over the years benefitted from the proficiency of Mrs. Wedell’s students. Debbie Akers and Beverly Goad played the piano and organ at the Ralston Federated Church which later became the Ralston Bible Church. Robin Myers and Angie Bradley, my sister, both served as pianists at the Ralston Baptist Church. Bruce Myers and Mark Myers have served as alternate pianists in the Ralston Baptist Church as well. Brent Myers used his keyboard virtuosity in many of the churches he has pastored. (Brent uses his keyboard talent presently at Pawnee First Christian Church.) During the last conversation I had with Kevin Myers revealed he played regularly at his home church in Tennessee.

The instruments on which Mrs. Wedell provided instruction were the piano, the organ, and the accordion. Even though the three instruments have been around for less than 500 years*, the Bible addresses the used of stringed instruments in praising the Lord. These two verses have within them a two-word phrase spoken innumerable times over the years by my mother.

Praise the Lord with the harp; Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings. Sing to Him a new song; PLAY SKILLFULLY with a shout of joy. Psalm 33:2-3

Mother worked in accord with Mrs. Wedell in directing our practicing with the two-word watchword from Psalm 33:3. Mother inculcated our daily practice and our performances whether if only in our home or when asked to play for an audience at a recital or in a church service with the demand PLAY SKILLFULLY.

                May we encourage budding musicians to develop their God-given talent through practice based on quality instruction. Vocal and instrumental music can provide enjoyment throughout a lifetime. Let’s live out this New Testament scripture’s command.

Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Ephesians 5:19

*The piano was invented in the early decades of the 18^th century. The electronic organ developed in the 1930s. The earliest recorded accordion dates to the early 19^th century.

Honoring Mother

                As I thought of Mother’s Day last week, the prophetess, Anna, came to mind. Luke the Physician wrote of her in his gospel in chapter 2, verses 36-38. The aged widow appeared to never leave the temple. Anna “served God with fastings and prayers night and day.”

                Anna recognized the tiny Savior even though He was just over a month old at His first appearance in the temple with Joseph and Mary. The prophetess gave thanks to the Lord for sending the Redeemer whose death would open the gates of heaven to those who would embrace Him and receive His gift of eternal life. Then Anna spoke of Him to all who “looked for redemption.”

                These three characteristics attributed to Anna exemplify qualities of a godly woman. Anna was only married for seven years according to Luke’s account. Yet Luke indicates she had lived into her 80s.

Anna was described as engaging in round the clock praying. As soon as she glimpsed the Baby Messiah, Jesus, she gave thanks. She talked to all who anticipated the Redemption of Israel.

We are not told if Anna had children. Upon thinking of this, I thought of several dear friends who have buried a beloved  child. Perhaps Anna had outlived her children. Yet she still maintained a vibrant, moment-by-moment relationship with the Lord.

My own mother, at age 96, especially during the pandemic, has served the Lord with her prayers. So many of those for whom she prays, she doesn’t know personally, but when we are notified of a need or requested to pray for someone, she joins with me in praying. Innumerable times I have been faced with needs on the farm and blurted out to her, “Well you better start praying about this!” I am reluctant to admit that my tone often did not reflect faith. Instead, impatience overshadowed my words. Undaunted, Mother prayed. We have seen page after page of my prayer journal with dates of the answers written in the right margin next to each entry on most pages. The wee hours of the morning are when many of her prayers are voiced.

Even as children, my sister and I cringed at Mother’s thankfulness when she always displayed her Pollyanna* attitude. That was the last thing we, especially me, wanted to see and hear. I wanted to lament and complain. Not Anna or my mother. Even during this prolonged pandemic, I have seen Mother exude more gratitude and trust, which has impacted my own growth in the Lord.

Each morning before we eat breakfast, I pray, “Lord, use us to glorify You today.” In 2020, Mother left the farm only two times after the March shutdown. She kept three doctor’s appointments thus far in 2021. Yet, in phone calls, I overheard her speaking words that uplift her callers and point to the powerful Redeemer we serve. People came to our home on business-related matters. Mother wove into the conversation the godly plan for her 67-year-marriage, the Biblical way to train children, and pithy responses that point to Jesus as the only way of salvation.

Lord, may we all be in an attitude of prayer night and day to You. Let every good gift You bestow on us be responded to with “Thank You, Father.” Give us courage and devotion to be like the hymn writer, Fanny Crosby, “I love to tell the story; For those who know it best seem hungering and thirsting to hear it, like the rest.”

Happy Mother’s Day!

Mother's Day 2018 - Bernadean, Bernyce, and Angie after attending church.

*For further explanation of the "Pollyanna" principle, click on this link: https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2018/04/early-morning-sounds-in-stillness.html

The 33rd and Last Year I Was in Third Grade

                                                                      2011/2012

                The school year of 2011 began on an ominous note with me missing the first day with students because of my mother's surgery on that day. Thankfully, Janet Smith, a recently retired colleague, and Gayle Reynard, our reading specialist, managed the class with their usual professionalism those first two days.

The group photograph for the last class I taught. Each day, I taught reading and spelling, making
many good memories with the third graders in Mrs. Wendy Lantz's class also. Photograph by Blunck's.

                I found myself missing more days than I ever had due to Mother’s follow-up appointments with her surgeon, as well as her unexpected hospitalization in December. An unrelated mass was spotted on an ultrasound.

                Just three weeks before her scheduled surgery to remove the malignant mass, my father suffered a stroke. My sister told her company she needed one day a week out of her office to assist her mother in caring for Dad at home. I began to pray and think about my role in Dad’s recovery. I could retire from teaching.

In mid-March, as I prepared my lesson plans on my laptop in Dad’s room at the rehab center, an email from our superintendent, Kenny Mason, popped up. He wished all staff a good spring break and reminded us to put our family first. Immediately, I knew what I needed to do.

I presented my resignation to Claudette Mashburn, my principal, following spring break. She asked me to wait until April. When April arrived, my decision to retire was cemented firmly in my mind. I told her, “You can find another third grade teacher, but Dad only has one older daughter - me.” She understood my decision and supported me wholeheartedly.

Most of the days of April and May found Tami Looney Miller teaching the third graders for me. I knew with her experience they were in good hands.

Even though I was out of the classroom for much of the last two months, I took away many memories with this class of 2021. Many of those students were second generation students for me. I had taught in third grade at least one parent of these students, Laney Jones, Aubrey Cason, Ethan Fesler, Laramie Neff, and McKenzi Potter. In addition, I taught primary music to the parents of these students, Hannah Crenshaw, Jacie Edwards, Blaine Denton, and Kaidon Wald. Laney Jones, Hailie Nicholson, Jacie Edwards, Kendra Robertson, Tonya Carnley, and McKenzi Potter had older siblings taught by me.

My first home was on Tre Fish’s great-great grandmother’s original land allotment as a member of the Osage Nation. Kenzi Potter’s great-grandmother and my mother shared first cousins. My mother also shared first cousins with Ethan Fesler’s grandfather. Owen Hutcheson’s great-great uncle, a first-class bass singer, and my mother who sang alto performed the popular hits of the day in a quartet when they both attended Burbank High School in the 1940s.

I shared happy times with each student. New babies arrived in some of the students' families during that third grade year. Several students got new pets they enjoyed telling me about at the cafeteria table as we ate lunch. Sometimes we shared about their fur babies as we waited in the afternoon bus lines.

Some of the students and I prayed for family members experiencing serious illness. I would later cry with other students during heartbreaking sorrow.

Now the class of 2021 prepares to strike out on their own into the daunting unknown of responsibility and “adulting.” I have a couple of wisdom sentences to strengthen each of you for your whole life through. David, the most respected, yet powerful king of ancient Israel, wrote these words:

Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4 NKJV)

Commit your future to the Lord. Trust in Him, and He will act on your behalf. (Psalm 37:5 NET)

Congratulations and Contentment to the Class of 2021!