Below is an excerpt from my personal journal from the day that Carol and I first met in person. To those who supported this trip and the first meeting, I thank you; it was the golden years of HandPan.org. I remember one of her neighbors commented that her indoctrination into the world of handpans was probably going to add another decade to her life; seems she was just about right. ❤ ❤ ❤
May 21rst, 2012
The drive was easy, scenic, memorable. I arrived at Carol's early than expected and beat the welcoming committee. 76 is old. A fragile lady eased her way down the driveway to greet me. Wearing outdoorsman overalls and velcro shoes she was not at all what I pictured. I quickly laid expectations to rest and greeted her the best way I know how; with a hug.
Her excitement was palpable. She held my hand and led me down to the gate to retrieve my car. Her baseball cap at an accidental rakish tilt covered her wispy grey hair. What she lacked in physical vigor she more than made up for in mental agility. Sharp as a tack and a student of logic...we hit it off immediately.
We made small talk, joked about the forum, and waited for her neighbors to arrive. Curious about this instrument that brought me here the neighbors insisted on seeing one. With a glance from Carol, I grabbed the SPB. I wanted this to be her moment. It was... I knew because of the tears. Tears of joy, grief, hardship, loneliness, love, and happiness all poured out at once. Her soul had been hooked and she knew it.
Carol's father was a brilliant mathematician who roamed the halls of yale with Einstein. He specialized in topology and was best known for his work with singularity. He won the Wolf Prize in the early 80's for his work. Truly a genius. His father was a scientist/musician, grandfather a senator, and great grandfather a supreme court justice. Carol's direct lineage goes straight to the founding fathers. Her direct relative Whitney was the only founding father to sign all four founding documents of the United States.
Carol was raised in a privileged household due to her family's lineage and father's work. She went to university at Wesley on the east coast and ended up pursuing a degree then Doctorates in Ethno-musicology. She was born in 1936 so at the time a Ph.D. in Ethno-musicology put her way ahead of her time. In the pursuit of her education, she found herself studying all kinds of world music from middle eastern percussion to the ragas of India. She eventually made her way to Spain and was taken in by the Gypsy Flamenco musicians. She spent over a year and a half studying with Diego (his last name is forgotten by the author) and he begged her not to leave. She continued on from there but at some point, music left her life...the tears she shed when I first played had a new meaning. I knew they came from a deeper place but I never could have imagined.
It has been a wonderful trip. One that reminded me to trust my gut instinct and follow through with it. To ignore the doubt of others and do what feels right to me. Everything about this trip was right. From how it came about, to how the money was raised, to how I connected with Carol, to her backstory and so much more.
Lets get a handpan for CarolW to play!
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Making a Dream Come True for CarolW
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CarolW wrote:COLIN IS HERE
We've been playing on the pans for the last hour!
Video being taken. MOre later!
Snivy wrote:So I get a call at work at about 3:30 this afternoon, some stark raving mad lady is yelling into the phone. "It's here, *&*(@&%&, Sylvia, (@%&*#". So I'm thinking, who the hell is this. It takes me a minute because between the bad connection, the excited lady on the phone that I can't quite understand and all the commotion in the background, I finally figure out it's Carol! I can barely make out what she's saying but figure out that the day has come. She's in a rush to get off the phone and go play some more and tries to end it at "Ok see you soon"......UHM YA, I'm at work (oh and thanks for the heads up Colin!!!). And unfortunately, I can't make it out that way until later (since I didn't plan for it) and it is a bit of a drive , I don't want to make her too tired but we'd already contemplated the theory that Colin may hand deliver the goods and we were both very excited at the prospect. So hells ya I'm coming....COLIN IS HERE! I finally show up at around 7:30 (am lucky to find my way in the dark since she literally lives out in the boonies). I walk in the door, give Carol a hug, sit down, and she plunks it on my lap almost immediately. Wow....just Wow.
Long story short, Wow, Colin and I are now besties, I got a free hand pan lesson, my pan has been anoited by Colin (it will never be the same), Carol may never sleep again.
in2nation wrote:i am delighted by the whole story and have been itching to tell more about it for weeks!!
suffice to say .... a happy conclusion (or is it a beginning?) to the endeavours of a wonderful community is nearing a massive milestone.
we here at handpan.org are amazed at the generosity of our members
Below are some of the photos that were lost in the intial threads.
