2 people who have really affected the course of my life:
My piano and voice teacher growing up; Patti Bennett. Although my mom gave me my ingrained (and possible genetic) love of music, it was Patti thast gave me my true appreciation of it.
I started taking lessons from her when I was about 8. When I was 13 I went through thst horrible, bratty, puberty stage where I refused to practice and was determined to quit. Neither my mom nor Patti would let me, and Patti especially did not let up on me. She weathered us both through that period, and into an age where I realized I needed music.
After thats we became friends as well as techer/student, and in my Jr, year of high school she got me a job at her church as the piano accompanist. That's when I really decided that I wnated to be a music major. And though I havenj't completed it yet, it's still what I want to do.
The other is a Christian woman and inspirational speaker named Jane Bateman.
Jane spoke at one of my church's women's retreats about 4 years ago, and it really changed me.
One of her sons fell from his bunk bed as a child and had irreplaceable brain damage that caused him to act in very much the same way as a child with autism would.
Her entire testimony, her unwavering faith (despite not only this challenge, but many others), and her humor all broke through a shell thst I had built around myself. It was after hearing her speak that I started into counseling and started writing my own music (one day I'll actusally get up the guts to do something with it, LOL!)
