I just got off the phone with my dad. I called him because my son’s hands and legs are stained dark brown from playing with black walnuts. Since my dad loves black walnuts, I thought he’d have an answer to how to get the stain off. Had I thought about it first, I’d had gone online to ask the great internet Google god the following ”oh master of all great knowledge, tell thee kindly how does one remove black walnut stain from the hands of a mischievous lad who wrote all over the road using the nuts from the tree as if a pen”. Fortunately for me, I didn’t consult Google, but grandpa (my son’s grandpa that is). His answer included information that I would have never received from Google. By the way, I think we are missing out by asking Google questions we should ask grandpa, grandma, the next door neighbor or a friend. 

I am not sure how it came up but dad told me that he had been listening to a musical program this week where the host posed this question:  “What music changed your life?”  Dad told me that hearing Fredick Chopin’s Polanise Opus 53 at age 15 changed his life. He said up until that time, he had never heard a man play a grand piano. He remembered thinking over 60 years ago, “If it takes me until I’m 45, I’d like to be able to play that piece like that man.” Inspired by Chopin, he started taking piano lessons again. Two years later, he played the Polanise in a recital.

Dad told me if he hadn’t heard that music, he might not have become really interested in music. Had he not rediscovered music, he likely wouldn’t have enrolled at Stetson University to study music. Had he not attended Stetson, he certainly wouldn’t have met my mother and if he hadn’t met my mother, I’d not be writing it. (Thanks Fred!)

I heard this story which I had never heard before because I called my dad for black walnut stain removal advice. While I’m grateful to Google for the impact it has had on me, I’m much more grateful for my dad (who by the way, has never even been on the internet).

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So the question of the week is what piece of music has changed you, impacted your life, moved you to action, or just is music that has meaning to you? The brain trust of the World’s Biggest Blog Party wants to know. In fact, we’re putting together a list of music that will be downloadable on the WBBP blog - music that matters. So what do you think?

If you see this twice, I am posted it there too.

Tim Richardson is an inspirational speaker who speaks about how giving increases employee morale, lowers employee turnover, increases customer loyalty and creates higher profits for Fortune 500 companies, associations, and national conventions. He is the founder of the The Worlds Biggest Blog Party an event which will connect bloggers from all over the world to raise money for charity. He is also founder and president of the Bill Walter Melanoma Research Fund. For more information on Tim, go to www.TimRichardson.com