One of the moments that changed my life happened in 1970, when my parents made a sacrifice I have never forgotten. They purchased a Baldwin Hamilton piano for about $900. At the time, $900 was a great deal of money for our family, and my parents were not earning very much, but they believed in me enough to make that investment.

That piano became a central part of my life. I practiced on it, taught students on it, and nearly fifty years later I still owned that same Baldwin Hamilton, still a beautiful instrument and a reminder of the faith my parents had placed in me.

My father also taught me important lessons in another way. More than sixty years ago he would buy old houses for very little money, fix them up, and sell them. Watching him do that showed me how patience, intelligence, and hard work could turn simple opportunities into something meaningful. When I was still very young I even loaned him $1,000 so he could purchase another house.

Later, when I was twenty years old, my mother helped me take a trip to Europe in 1977, generously paying about $1,500 so I could travel. That journey opened the door to experiences that shaped my musical life.

Looking back now, I realize how much those moments mattered. The belief my parents had in me, symbolized by that Baldwin Hamilton piano and the example my father set through his real-estate ventures, helped guide the path of my life and eventually influenced the investments and opportunities I would pursue many years later.