My friend, Rod was my first Ukulele student.
I received an email that was directed to the mass mailing list of the Vancouver Ukulele Circle that went like this:
"Looking for a beginner ukulele teacher... please respond... thanks, Rod"
I closed the email without responding early May of 2011.
A few weeks had passed by since that day and as I was cleaning up my email inbox, I re-read this email and I thought to myself... "Is he looking for a teacher who is a beginner or is he a beginner student looking for a teacher?" I had only been playing for over 2 years but felt confident so, I wrote back and told him I could certainly get him on his way until he found a more suitable teacher because, I was not a teacher of Ukulele but I certainly knew my basic chords and strumming. And because I wasn't experienced in this sort of thing, I told him I would only charge him the price of a Strabucks coffee.
Well, I guess he liked that and he called me to set up an appointment for the very next day. Rod as it turned out had just finished a few months of chemo therapy for cancer and was now on the road to recovery. He had to quit his job and when he did, he bought himself a ukulele. Renee, Rod's wife is a wonderful woman who stood by her man and let him have his ukulele! He had enrolled in a one day "Learn to Uke" workshop at Ruby's Ukes School in Vancouver for June which was still a few weeks away but wanted to learn before he went there. Kinda like, cleaning your house before the cleaning service gets there. LOL. He had this tenor Ukulele that sounded awful and was too big for him. I tried my best to tune it and make him feel comfortable with it but at the end of our first 2 hour session, we both decided that he would return it for a concert size. And he did just that... and that my friends was a beginning of great friendship!
I came back a few days later and we began our "lessons". Due to his cancer treatments, Rod had some numbness in his left hand. The chord progression of C-Am-F-G7 was very therapeutic for him. Nothing like playing and la-la-la-ing to "Stand By Me" for 2 hours! It was the first song I learnt on the ukulele, it had to be the first song I taught anyone... His goal was to play & sing "Ukulele Lady" to Renee... sadly this did not happen.
For 3 months, we met regularly for lessons. We even ventured out on the third Tuesday of July to the Vancouver Ukulele Circle's sing & jam night, which is held pretty close to Rod's home. He sat there with his uke and sang his heart out and played every chord he could! I was very proud of him! As with any uke enthusiast, he even Craiglisted a search for a second uke and he did buy one... a vintage Martin he bought for nearly $1000. That's pretty awesome!! His favorite song and mine as well... "Five Foot Two" - he played it with all that he had and I loved playing this song with him!!
Just 3 months after I met Rod, his body was breaking down and was admitted to various hospitals... his cancer had returned... and yet, he wanted to keep playing... keep learning. I went there...where ever he was... and we played... and we sang... and only once, we cried. His spirit and his drive to play was incredible. He wished he had learnt the uke years before.. it made him happy.
On September 18, 2011... Rod lost his battle with cancer.
I played... I sang.... I cried.
I dedicate this page to Renee... It has been a year yesterday that she lost her man... I hope she has and will stay strong and vibrant in her life. And I want to thank her from the bottom of heart for allowing me to share in her husband's last few months of life. I will forever remember my first student who became my friend and will always think of him when I play a little, "Five Foot Two"!!
Life is a gift.... Cherish it.
I think I did good...
Carrie
