The Sabinos: Family Support Story #14

Early on in my teaching career, I was contacted by a woman named Teresa about lessons for her son Jonnie, and so we started working together. Jonnie was a bit of a hellraiser, but a good kid nonetheless, and I always enjoyed teaching him. We would play all kinds of rock and metal songs, and he got pretty good pretty fast. I had enough years on him to be a bit of a big brother type that he never took overly serious like an adult, but more as someone he could be himself without me getting all grown-up-ish when he acted like a jackass. He was definitely a rambunctious kid, and no stranger to rebellious hijinks. He was always a bit of a wise guy, but again, really a good kid at the end of it all.

Teresa eventually ended up as my hair stylist, and we became friends. She was a nice woman and a solid mother. She supported Jonnie’s interests and provided all the care that he needed, and she would provide him with all of the instruments, tools, and materials he needed to thrive musically.

I worked with them through a few home relocations, and as she advanced through a few different workplaces, and eventually, Jonnie outgrew lessons, so we decided to discontinue. He was growing up and getting into other interests, and starting to drive and all those things that a teenager eventually starts doing. But through the times, I stayed friendly with both him and his mom. I really was fond of them as a family.

Sadly, a few years after we stopped lessons, I learned that Teresa had passed away. She was fairly young when this happened, and it was really heartbreaking. She was a loving, active, and truly lovely mother to her son, and I always enjoyed their dynamic. I got the impression that she understood his wild nature, because I think she may have had a bit of that in her life as a youngster as well. So I always got the impression that she could relate to him on those levels, and that she was in turn able to provide him the kind of foundations he needed to not get into too much trouble.

Whenever I still drive by the salon she worked at, I think of her fondly, and wonder what he has been up to. I recently found him on Facebook and hope to reconnect and see what he’s done with himself The last time I saw him, I had run into him at the gym and he was BUFF. The skinny little kid I knew him as had grown into this big muscled adult. Blows my mind seeing students grow up, but I’m always glad to see that they turn out ok. I don’t know if he still plays, but I hope he does. He had a good amount of natural talent, but really I think that my role in his youth was not really primarily as his guitar teacher, but more of a decent male role model for him to have around. Taeresa would always ask me how he behaved, and if he tried to pull any stunts while I was there. Of course of which he DID, but never anything so bad to raise concern. Just silly teenagsr in the suburbs stuff. But I like to think that I had a hand in helping him keep himself out of “some” of the trouble that was ripe with potential. Like I said… he was a bit of a wiseguy back then, but fun to know and spend time with.

The Take Away From This Story

Sometimes it’s not about the music lessons, it’s about the presence and the space you hold for a family when there is a need to have that extra little bit of influence. In this case, it was my role to help a teen and his single mom keep some fun and creativity in the house. Of course I taught him music and guitar, but there were also a lot of coming of age talks about girls, and times when he and his friends would outrun the cops after getting into some kind of stupid teen shenanigans (I would often tell him to cut the shit and stop stressing out his mom), and all the kind of things a young man “should” hear so he turns out ok, and from what I know about him these days, he did in fact turn out alright. And that makes me happy, I’m sure his mom would be proud. She really was a fun and lovely woman, and without a doubt she is missed by all who knew her. I feel sad that they were separated, but so is life.. Can’t change things that are out of our control, but we can keep the memories alive and speak well of those we have known.