Who Was Your First Piano Teacher?

My first piano teacher was a very elderly woman with the wonderful name of Madora Cadwallader.  She had come to the United States from England, a war-bride during World War II.  She had a huge, vintage upright piano in the basement of her home in the Broadview area of Seattle, and it was a very quiet and formal atmosphere.  I'd tiptoe down the stairs and enter the studio, where she'd be waiting for the next student to announcement themselves and then settle down into the routine of the lesson.

I was seven years old when I started my piano lessons, and I always look back and think about how powerful those first experiences are, even if we rarely (if ever) think about them.   I don't remember learning how to read, and I certainly do not remember how and when I first learned to read music.  All I know is that it was an ability that came quickly, and by the time I was eight years old, I was easily reading all of the music that was given to me in my John Thompson Piano Course books. 

Not long afterward, Mrs. Cadwallader found me another teacher who was more advanced, and this teach became the pivotal influence in my musical life.  However, I will always be thankful for the gift of reading music that Mrs. Madora Cadwallader gave to me.