When I was seven, Dad said he wanted me to start lessons-
on the violin.
I know just the perfect gentleman.
He’s my coworker rather he’s my colleague; I’m in PR- he’s in the second violin section.
Bora Angelich.
From the former Baltics, who came to this country as an adolescent.
There was a certain master that he respected,
who inspired him to come to this country so he could seek an apprenticeship.
Because anyone who starts new is terrible at first; fast forward to my first lesson Dad took me to in Sharonville.
You make a mistake in anything- I know the cure!
When you practice make sure you do so ‘slow, but sure’.
And that’s the only real way to play the violin.
No, not like that Xan, hold your hand like this!
Hold your wrist straight with your fingering hand, and if Xan don’t have one, I’ll give him a stand.
I had met him for a few brief moments… but I felt if there were anything I need- he’d own it.

He said- “Now you’ll go home, and study all the parts.”
A week later came back- “Now did you really study hard?”

“Yes, this little box at the end here is called the frog, that connects the wood, to the rest of it all. Now see the stick’s above the pad, at the end is the screw used to toggle horse hairs on the bow to make them tight or loose. The top’s the swirly part: called the scroll, and the middle here where the sound comes out, are the f-holes. Right above the upper bout, that is called the neck, and these knobs right above that are the tuning pegs; held by the tuning box, and your left hand’s fingers are for a place that’s connected to the box- that’s the fingerboard. Wait- don’t forget the middle part is the waist, that holds the weight from the strings, and that is the bridge. The fine tuner for the e-string is right below it. All that are left are the chin rest, and the tail piece.”

And Bora said- “I see, you’ve done quite well indeed.”

I developed a style, and it made a vibrant sound. Then I went away to school and I didn’t see Bora. I often wondered how my violin mentor was.
It wasn’t long before, I came in again.
Soon enough my early twenties started to begin. Keep the humidity, in the right condition.
Then you’ll always have yourself a finely tuned instrument.
Now it’d been a while I’d only played once in a blue moon.
Surprisingly when Bora checked he said “We are in tune!”

The piece that I had practiced, right before college, was the same one that I worked on when I visited him in hospice.
A few years later, when I was 26, and the advice that he gave me was onerous and and ominous. He knew I didn’t seek it is a profession, but he could tell that playing itself- would help me with my aggression.
And when it’s all said, and the day is done.
Violin playing helps in more ways than one.
And as he sat there with his grey hair and his wheelchair, raised up his brow- gave me that ‘Bora stare’.
To this day I truly regret, not having him.
I took his words to heart, and I still pick it up and practice.
I can see him when he flipped the bow and bounced it like a ball on cement.
Falling and controlling like Michael Jordan on defense.
And said this is the style- invented by Paganini.
They thought his soul was stolen and collected by the demon-
the one that’s special, we call him the devil.
Now, go home: and see if you can match the genie.
Lauded and admired your idol; you made sure we knew the difficulty it would take to be just like him.
To never make a mistake, in front of the ever eyeful,
watch of the public takes every ounce of the fight in you.
To pay the prices first you can’t get caught up in the hypeness.
You can bring your dream to life, if behind doors you put the trife in.
Workin’ til you have no sense of sight left.
Countless hours goin’ nights an’ practice makes the soul enlightened.
Elevating to a plain that, others see as frightenin’.
It’s not a secret or a game- it’s the code of life in Zion.
What happens when you’re born with a gift, and you put the work in?
Perfection ascertained by the one and only- Jascha Heifetz.
Bora- I miss ya, I wish I could’ve had another lesson.
But, maybe we’ll get a chance if there’s such thing as heaven.