Ending of Well-composed Life

Download

One Response to "Ending of Well-composed Life"

Lilli Smith says:

December 2, 2012 at 2:47 pm

MKS@60
A well composed life

Some people approach big birthdays with fear
Martha Smith saw it as an opportunity most dear
Friends and students and neighbors down the way
She invited you all to come share her day

Our Mom was born in a small Texas town
Her Mom taught piano; there was music all around
Big brothers Joel and Harry were legendary fun
They taught her to laugh and introduced her to the pun

She entered Rice U in the fall of ’62
And had so much fun she almost came unglued
At Brown College she established the rules
More social engagements, less school

Typical Rice Girl, she definitely was not
Though she tried to learn from what she was taught
The Wild Rice Women are friends to this day
All take pride in who they are, what they do and say.

It was there at Rice that she put on the charm
And captured the young man on her roommate’s arm
Steve and Martha were married in ‘66
Packed up their car and said goodbye to the stix.

After two years in Boston, they settled in DC
Where Martha just couldn’t get enough of the trees
It was there that she started composing her life
Carefully cultivating friends by day and by night

Lilli was the first child of the Wild Rice Crowd
Born in ’71 she made Steve and Martha so proud
Luckily Courtney was born around the same time
So Martha and Judith could trade nursery rhymes

David came along two years later, December
Fat baby we called him, we fondly remember
With 2 kids in tow, Mom did not have much time
But the music inside her continued to chime

In ’73 she bought her first grand
She practiced and practiced and started devising a plan
A plan to teach piano as her mother before her
Loving kids and music as well as being an entrepreneur

In ‘76 Martha and Steve sought out a church
They did not have to go far to completed their search
As soon as they heard Emurian’s Angels in the Snow
They knew that Cherrydale Church was the place to go

Almost thirty years later they still attend regularly
And cherish their large extended church family
With Martha on music and Steve manning the aisles
They love coming here where they always find smiles

In ’77 she finally established her studio
A nurturing place where music could grow
She sought to convey the joy of learning
While making students’ musical taste more discerning

In ‘78 it was time for number three
And on June the 10th along came Shelby
The youngest Smith was a bit more difficult than the rest
But Lilli and David could certainly also be pests

1980 was the year of the bone
Mom fell off her bike while crossing wet stone
With Shel in a body cast and Mom in a sling
It was sometimes difficult to remember to sing

But the bones healed and the casts came off
And mom was still able to play Rachmaninoff
She refocused her energy on tuning her studio
And soon it grew to over thirty kids on the go

These next years were filled with kids and tons of committees
Junior league, Scouts, soccer, baseball, and Jobies
With NVMTA, VMTA, and of course the PTA
Many times there just weren’t enough hours in the day

Martha and Steve were committed to international interests
And opened their home to students from many continents
Beatrice, Joe, Marc and Francine were just a few
They loved showing around always learning something new

In ‘96 Martha realized her dream
After giving a concert that was absolutely supreme
She graduated con brio from Catholic University
With a masters in piano pedagogy under Thomas Mastroianni

Finally in 2000, an empty nest
But Martha really didn’t want to rest
Beatrice and Jurgen made her absolutely lovesick
By naming her godmother of Jasper __ Freidrich

It seemed like forever, until 2002
But Mom was just thrilled when Dave said I do
His beautiful bride was named Jeanette
And their wedding was one that we’ll never forget

The ceremony must have had a stirring effect
And a couple of old flames had a chance to reflect
The romance reignited and the next thing you know
Sister-in-law Karen married Rice buddy Joe

This fall, Shelby and Sean make it three weddings in three years
Chances are quite good that Mom will shed tears
But that won’t stop her from making the rounds
And dancing with Dad who can really get down!

These days Mom continues to teach and is better than ever
Her international themes and workshops are incredibly clever
She has joined 2 book clubs one old, one young
And excels at teaching English to people learning a new tongue

Mom is so friendly she could talk to a wall
Always investigating new things and having a ball
MKSconbrio is her online name
With so much spirit she’s certainly never been lame

Mom, it’s clear at 60 that you are truly winning
Such a well-composed life that’s really just beginning
You are our friend, our teacher, and our inspiration
Our companion, our idol, and our most solid foundation.

Reply

Leave a Reply to Lilli Smith Cancel reply