Tag Archives: nature

For the Love of Music…

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mjplayingkeyboard

Morgan loved playing music.  When she was in elementary school she learned how to read music.  Later on while in middle school she taught herself how to play the piano.  She was so excited when her dad and I bought her a keyboard.  From that moment on she would look for sheet music, and practice as much as possible.  She asked if she could take piano and vocal lessons to learn even more.  She took lessons with a music teacher that her sister had worked with years ago.  Her vocal coach was one of the most wonderful, talented, and gentle souls I had ever met and Morgan took to her right away.

The week after Morgan died Morgan’s vocal coach spoke with me.  She had heard Morgan had passed and was very sad.  In our extreme indescribable pain Steve and I had not reached out to everyone we should have to tell them about her passing, but this woman had heard about it anyway.  I apologized for not calling her myself – she told me about the one song Morgan was always trying to perfect when she was younger, it was the song that was played in the Disney movie Anastasia “Once Upon a December.”  This gave me chills as Morgan had died on December 2nd.  It is a beautiful song.  Here are the lyrics:

Dancing bears.
Painted wings.
Things I almost remember.
And a song someone sings
Once upon a December.
Someone holds me safe and warm.
Horses prance through a silver storm.
Figures dancing gracefully
Across my memory ?
Someone holds me safe and warm.
Horses prance through a silver storm.
Figures dancing gracefully
Across my memory ?
Far away, long ago,
Glowing dim as a ember,
Things my heart
Used to know
Things it yearns to remember
And a Song someone sings
Once upon a December…..

I miss so many things about Morgan.  I miss hearing her go into the living room to play her keyboard and sing.  She had a beautiful voice, just like her big sister, they must have gotten that from their dad…certainly not from me.  Morgan’s sister told me she wants us to always keep Morgan’s keyboard so we still have it, but since Morgan passed it has stayed silent…no music has come from her keyboard.  Maybe one day someone will start to play on it, and once again in our home beautiful music will be heard.

sheetmusic

Listen to the Forest…Morgan did

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Morgan loved being in nature.  She was able to observe and cherish everything around her, and I believe this was a blessing.  It showed me exactly the kind of soul she was ever since she was a tiny child.  Even after becoming a young woman she would still bend down to pluck a little fuzzy dandelion that had gone to seed.  She would always smile, close her eyes, make a wish and blow…the wind would catch the seeds and they would gently fly away.   Her little niece still gets excited when she see a fuzzy dandelion and mimics the same thing her Aunt Gigi (Morgan) taught her.

Sometimes she would look up into the sky, and with a dreamy voice she would ask me to look up to see the beautiful clouds.  Sometimes she would get excited when it would start to rain…she would run outside to feel and smell the downpour coming from the Heavens above.  She would always look out the window from the passenger seat while I was driving and tell me to look at Mt. Sopris, because every day the mountain changed it’s beauty.

mjinforest

When she hiked into the forest Morgan was always looking to see a fox or deer, as she quietly walked the trails.  She loved to just lie on the ground, close her eyes, listen to and feel the wind.  Putting her bare feet in every river she came upon was mandatory for her.  Morgan was a child of nature, she fed her soul with all the gifts that nature had to offer.  I believe that is why she became such an avid photographer.  She wanted others to “see” and experience what she did every day, and she succeeded.  I am grateful for all the wonderful pictures Morgan left behind, as well as the many things she taught us all about what is truly important in life. Finding your true purpose, seeing and being a part of all the beauty around you and never, ever taking one moment in your life for granted.  Always tell the ones you love, every day, how much you love them – Morgan always did, and for that I am grateful as well.

“The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.” – John Muir

gardenforest