ROBBY'S NIGHT

ROBBY'S Night

   True Story -- Worth Reading!!!

  At the prodding of my friends, I am writing this story. My name is  Mildred Hondorf. I am a former elementary school music teacher from Des  Moines, Iowa. I've always supplemented my income by teaching piano  lessons-something I've done for over 30 years.

Over the years I found that children have many levels of musical  ability. I've never had the pleasure of having a prodigy though I have  taught some talented students.

However I've also had my share of what I call "musically challenged"
pupils. One such student was Robby. Robby was 11 years old when his
mother (a single Mom) dropped him off for his first piano lesson. I
prefer that students (especially boys!) begin at an earlier age, which I
explained to Robby.

But Robby said that it had always been his mother's dream to hear him  play the piano. So I took him as a student. Well, Robby began with his  piano lessons and from the beginning I thought it was a hopeless  endeavor.   As much as Robby tried, he lacked the sense of tone and basic rhythm  needed to excel. But he dutifully reviewed his scales and some elementary  pieces that I require all my students to learn.

Over the months he tried and tried while I listened and cringed and  tried to encourage him. At the end of each weekly lesson he'd always say,  "My mom's going to hear me play someday." But it seemed hopeless. He just  did not have any inborn ability. I only knew his mother from a distance  as she dropped Robby off or waited in her aged car to pick him up. She  always waved and smiled but never stopped in.

Then one day Robby stopped coming to our lessons.

I thought about calling him but assumed because of his lack of  ability, that he had decided to pursue something else. I also was glad  that he stopped coming. He was a bad advertisement for my teaching!


Several weeks later I mailed to the student's homes a flyer on the  upcoming recital. To my surprise Robby (who received a flyer) asked me if  he could be in the recital. I told him that the recital was for current  pupils and because he had dropped out he really did not qualify. He said  that his mother had been sick and unable to take him to piano lessons but  he was still practicing. "Miss Hondorf . I've just got to play!" he  insisted.


I don't know what led me to allow him to play in the recital. Maybe  it was his persistence or maybe it was something inside of me saying that  it would be all right. The night for the recital came. The high school  gymnasium was packed with parents, friends and relatives. I put Robby up  last in the program before I was to come up and thank all the students  and play a finishing piece. I thought that any damage he would do would  come at the end of the program and I could always salvage his poor  performance through my "curtain closer."

Well, the recital went off without a hitch. The students had been  practicing and it showed. Then Robby came up on stage. His clothes were  wrinkled and his hair looked like he'd run an eggbeater through it. "Why  didn't he dress up like the other students?" I thought. "Why didn't his  mother at least make him comb his hair for this special night?"


Robby pulled out the piano bench and he began. I was surprised when  he announced that he had chosen Mozart's Concerto #21 in C Major. I was  not prepared for what I heard next. His fingers were light on the keys,  they even danced nimbly on the ivories. He went from pianissimo to  fortissimo.  From allegro to virtuoso. His suspended chords that Mozart  demands were magnificent! Never had I heard Mozart played so well by  people his age.. After six and a half minutes he ended in a grand  crescendo and everyone was on their feet in wild applause.


Overcome and in tears I ran up on stage and put my arms around Robby  in joy. "I've never heard you play like that Robby! How'd you do it? "  Through the microphone Robby explained: "Well Miss Hondorf . . ..  remember I told you my Mom was sick? Well, actually she had cancer and  passed away this morning. And well . . . she was born deaf so tonight was  the first time she ever heard me play. I wanted to make it special."

There wasn't a dry eye in the house that evening. As the people from
Social Services led Robby from the stage to be placed into foster care,
noticed that even their eyes were red and puffy and I thought to myself
how much richer my life had been for taking Robby as my pupil.

No, I've never had a prodigy but that night I became a prodigy. . .  of Robby's. He was the teacher and I was the pupil For it is he that  taught me the meaning of perseverance and love and believing in yourself  and maybe even taking a chance in someone and you don't know why.

Robby was killed in the senseless bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah
Federal Building in Oklahoma City in April of 1995. And now, a footnote
to the story.

If you are thinking about forwarding this message, you are probably  thinking about which people on your address list aren't the "appropriate"  ones to receive this type of message. The person who sent this to you  believes that we can all make a difference. So many seemingly trivial  interactions between two people present us with a choice: Do we act with  compassion or do we pass up that opportunity and leave the world a bit  colder in the process?

You have two choices now:
1. Delete this.
2. Forward it to the people you care about.

You know the choice I made. Thank you for reading this
May God bless you today tomorrow and always

Here are the obits of the 4 roberts who were killed in the bombing and follows a story on the above e-mail scam/fraud

Robert Westberry
"Robert Westberry, 57, was only two years away from retiring as the special agent in charge at the Department of Defense and Investigative Services. He loved to work on his computer and was dedicated to his family. "He was an unconditional father. His love was unconditional. His giving was unconditional. His time was unconditional," said his daughter, Sue Riley of Columbia, S.C. Born Aug. 18, 1937, in Miami, Fla., Westberry was a highway patrolman in Florida before going into the Naval Investigative Service. Robert and Tillie Westberry had lived in Oklahoma City for about two years. "

Robert Walker Jr.
Neither a heart attack suffered last year nor the loss of his father could slow Robert Walker Jr. "He never slowed down," said his wife, Judith Walker. "He was just so active, and he was really a wonderful man. "I just wish everybody had had the chance to meet him." Walker, 52, was a claims representative with the Social Security Administration, and his caring nature made a lasting impression on those he served, she said. The Walkers had been married for almost nine years, and both worked for the Social Security Administration. They were transferred to Oklahoma City from Albuquerque, N.M., three years ago. It was a good fit, Judith Walker said. "We were in love with Oklahoma City. " Walker continued his long association with the Boy Scouts in Oklahoma City. An Eagle Scout and 46-year member of the organization, Walker served as Assistant District Commissioner of the Will Rogers District and Unit Commissioner for Troop 84. Walker also pursued an avid interest in computers."

Aurelia Donna and Robert L. Luster Jr.
"Their love was just unbelievable." An imprint on the memory of a family friend and Guthrie neighbor Vern Epperson, that is how Aurelia Donna Luster, 43, and Robert L. Luster Jr., 45, will be remembered by at least one man. For many, Donna, as known by her friends, and Robert will be known as the financially troubled couple who lost their lives in the bomb blast while trying desperately to provide for six children. The children, ranging in age from 7 to 22, were initially left homeless, victims of a landlord's eviction order which spurred Robert and Donna Luster to make a trip downtown, where they planned to apply for further Social Security disability funding. Now the children are left without parents. Since the tragedy, intense community support has provided the surviving family members with a 1 new home in which to carry out the teachings of their parents - valuable teachings according to Epperson. "They were a real loving family," Epperson said. "I don't think you'd find a more loving couple toward each other and their family. It was truly special. From the smallest children on up, it was just incredible love. "

Robert N. Chipman
"A "prince of a guy," is how Edmond Memorial High School Principal Larry Maxwell describes Robert N. Chipman. "He was a great guy to be around and work with," Maxwell said. "It's a shame that has to happen to someone like that, (someone who) has such a positive outlook on life." Chipman, 51, had been with the Oklahoma Water Resources Board as a financial analyst six months. He was married to Gloria J. Chipman, and they have two daughters, Catherine M. Chipman Talbert and Julie A. Szabolcsi; and one son, Carl C. Chipman."

A sample of the story using Google

The Boy Who Mastered Piano So His Mother Could Hear Him Play, And Who Died in the Oklahoma City Bombing-Fiction!

Summary of the eRumor:
A piano teacher said to be named Mildred Hondorf writes a touching story about a boy named Robby who came for lessons because he wanted his mother to hear him play, but, according to the teacher, he was never very good.. Ultimately, he stopped coming, which was fine for the teacher because she didn't see him progressing. As the first recital came up, however, she sent a notice to him about it and got a call from him saying he wanted to play and that he had been practicing, even though he had not been able to come to lessons because of his mother being sick. On the day of the recital, how showed up looking unkempt, but played a difficult Mozart piece masterfully. He told the teacher that his mother, who had been born deaf, had died that very morning and that he was sure she had heard him play for the first time. Then the story closes by the teacher saying that Robby grew into a man, served in the military, and was among those killed in the bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1995 because he played the piano there.

The Truth:
We've found nothing to substantiate this story. There was no "Robby" who died in the Oklahoma City bombing, although there were several "Roberts." No one associated with the Oklahoma City victims knows of this story. A representative of the Oklahoma City National Memorial says she has no idea who Robby may have been and is not aware that there was a piano in the Murrah Building that was bombed.

This story is very similar to "Eyes that See," a commonly-told urban legend about a young football player who was not very good at it. He suddenly improved for a game that happened after his blind father died because, he said, it was the first time his father could see him play.

Regardless of whether it is truth or urban myth, it is a heartwarming story. Surely treating one another with kindness and respect cannot be wrong.

hmmm… i wonder what it's like to have everything you ever post to be summarily refuted, denied or shown to be total bushwa. man… if it were i, i think i'd change the manner, content or frequency of my posts!

i wonder what it's like to have everything you ever post to be summarily refuted, denied

Hmm, I believe that a few of us are in that position!

i think i'd change the manner, content or frequency of my posts!

Or perhaps verify them before posting?

As Otaku said, there's nothing wrong with that kind of story, and the moral drawn from it. Just don't pass it off as fact, when it is fiction.

Well honeybabe whether this be truth or fiction the moral of the story is the truth and that is what I and many others should focus on. Thank you for bringing this story to me and God bless you honeybabe.