Celeste S. Sanchez, Music Lover
By: Admin
At a very young age, music was her passion. To practice on a big grand piano was a dream and not even walking a mile to her aunt's home stopped Celeste from realizing that dream. While doing her regular piano exercises to sharpen her skills, she noticed a little girl craning her neck to watch her as she ran her fingers on the white keyboard. The little girl would stay for hours but was aloof. It was only later that Celeste found out that she was physically and mentally disabled.
The college years at St. Scholastica's College rolled on and Celeste, taught piano lessons to many students and adults of varying ages. The seed of an inspiration for her future endeavors started when while teaching three daughters of a family friend she would always notice a young boy peering from behind the curtains of the living room where the piano lesson was going on. But one day, the young son, too feeble-minded to take piano lessons like her sisters was shooed away by her parents. And this struck Celeste with the firm belief that handicapped persons, no matter the age or circumstance, should be given fair treatment and equal opportunities to learning music.
Celeste's first real encounter in living out this firm belief started in October 1977 where she trained the Ephpheta Blind Male Chorale for a concert, when she literally gave "Joy in the Dark." And this was just the start.
In 1993, when face with a personal predicament of a brain surgery for her husband Rodolfo, that her prayers and sacrifices cyrstallized the passion and inspiration for music, into a heaven-sent idea of establishing a foundation for persons with developmental disabilities. Thus was the Divine Mercy Mobile Center established.
Source: "A Recital by the Enabled VIII" 2002
No comments:
Post a Comment