When I was in fifth grade, my sister’s band director, Mrs. Dempsey, asked her if I was smart. Mrs. Dempsey found out I was an A student and immediately sent me an oboe. I was excited about the sixth-grade band, and here was an instrument picked out by “the band director.” Wow, I thought. This is cool.

I remember staring at my oboe, wondering what it would sound like when I learned to play. All I knew was that it was the “snake charmer” music in the cartoons when a snake was coaxed out of a tall straw basket.
Without reeds or any instruction, that was all I knew.

Mrs. Dempsey set me up with private lessons before fifth grade was over. Wow, I thought, I am getting a head start. And when I went to my first day of sixth-grade beginning band, I was more than ready to play.
Oboe was the perfect fit. As an A student with perfectionist tendencies (typical double reed players), I realized how well-suited I was for this unique double reed instrument. But there was something else that brought me happiness with this instrument…Mrs. Dempsey.

She opened the door to me discovering my passion for music. I won an essay contest for the Daughters of the American Revolution, and I was allowed to pick the teacher that would take me to the luncheon to hear me read my essay. So, of course, I asked Mrs. Dempsey. Through the years of attending auditions, Region Band clinics, and helping in the band hall, I was a true band nerd. I loved every minute of it.

As I moved to high school and college, it was obvious that music was my calling. I wanted to be like Mrs. Dempsey and teach. And when I got my first band directing gig, she was one of my first phone calls.
We had a special relationship. Sometimes we didn’t talk for years, but when we did, it was like we had seen each other only moments before. She and her husband were even in my wedding. I could not imagine her not being part of my special day. She supplied me with something “borrowed,” a Bible I carried down the aisle.

As I developed a new relationship with her as an adult, I enjoyed her company. She was so funny! And my husband and I often went to double features with her, Mr. Dempsey, and our friend (and my co-worker) Carlton. We even spent time on the river in Con-Can during the summer. She, Mr. Dempsey, and Carlton were fun to be around. Throw Andie into the mix, and my sides would hurt from the laughter.

Mrs. Dempsey had a unique name for me. As she never had biological children, she told me that if she had a daughter, she hoped she would have been like me, her “perfect daughter,” aka “PD.”

I give thanks to God for Mrs. Dempsey. She sent me an instrument that changed my life. Somehow, she knew the oboe was what I needed. The lessons I learned through music have made me the woman I am today.

To all my band director friends in the world, remember the influence you have. You may be the next Mrs. Dempsey for someone.

Fly with the angels, Claudia Ware Dempsey. I love you.

Today I am Thankful for:

1. oboes
2. music educators
3. sheet music, cork grease, and reeds
4. beginner band
5. Mrs. Dempsey