The late Helen Dean Rhodes, my piano teacher – Part 2 Throwback Thursday

ORE ABOUT THE SISTERS’ HOUSE: I think my geography is correct. Miss Helen, and Miss Beechie lived at the corner of East Third Street and East Fourth Avenue, just over the hill from the infamous Rome City Clock. A stucco house with 12 foot high ceilings, it had a very pleasant front porch with a swing. Pigeons roosted in the eaves of the house on drooping boards which needed to be replaced. There was a lace curtain over the window of the front door. A full length picture window was just inside the front door of the home. The uncarpeted floors of the hallway and front staircase were dark and dingy. Though probably grand in its day, the house was shabby and I often wondered what the upstairs of the home looked like. years. In November, 1971, he was called to duty in Vietnam. I will never forget the day he left. I stood in our driveway and watched him drive off until the car was no longer in sight. He was my only brother and I feared I would never see him again. Every week, when I went to my piano lesson, Miss Helen would anxiously ask about Steve. She actually stood there, in the music studio, nervously wringing her hands and she’d say, “Have you had a letter from Stevie? What do y’all hear from him? Is he OK?” There was never a week that she didn’t ask about him. This meant so very much to me, as you may imagine. Then, when we had a letter from him, I would tell her all about it. Miss Helen genuinely loved her students, all of us, and I knew she was truly worried about “Stevie.” But he got safely home in 1972. Remember the old driving range? It was located on the lot where the Olive Garden now stands. That’s where I was the day he came home from Vietnam. The driving range at driver’s education. He surprised me and came with Daddy to pick me up. What a great day that was! A couple of days later he surprised Miss Helen with a visit. She was overjoyed that “Stevie” was safely home!

THE WACKY PIANO LESSON. I mentioned (in Part 1) that the sisters had a dozen cats. Miss Beechie would feed the neighborhood cats and she believed she could teach the cats to talk. I told you she was eccentric. The sisters’ favorite cat was a Siamese named “Sai.” One day during my piano lesson I heard Miss Beechie’s voice from the next room. She said, “Now, Sai you talk!” Then I heard, “Meow. Meow.” I envisioned the cat sitting on a chair with Miss Beechie towering over him demanding that he “talk.” This went on for the entire 45 minute piano lesson. Miss Helen did not hear her sister trying to teach Sai to talk. Due to the ongoing distraction, it was difficult for me to concentrate on my lesson that day. PAM WALKER