Chapter 11

Chapter 11
Rory the Drummer

"All right now, let's go through that again," Miss Applewhite (also known as Kim) said patiently to her prize pupil. Rory was trying valiantly to learn the fine art of opening and closing the high-hat with his foot and hitting it with his stick at just the right rhythm--all while keeping the core bass-snare beat going with his other foot and hand at the same time. Nothing to it, right? Think again.

"I can't do it," Rory said forlornly. "I know how it's supposed to sound, cuz I've heard Denny do it." He attempted the rhythm once more but to no avail. "I just can't get all my hands and feet working together at the same time like I’m supposed to," he declared.

"Of course you can," Miss Applewhite told him in no uncertain terms. "You just have to keep working at it. Let’s start out very slowly, so you can have more time to concentrate on each step of the process."

So Rory, trooper that he was, gave it another try. "Hey, I think I’m gettin’ it," he exclaimed excitedly. "Listen to this! I'm really doin' it!"

"You certainly are," Miss Applewhite agreed in a matter-of-fact tone. "Now just gradually speed up a little more if you can."

Rory tripped up a bit when he attempted this, but now that he knew it could be done, his confidence was bolstered to the point where he was determined to be master of the high-hat, and not let it get the best of him any longer.

"There, you go," praised Miss Applewhite. "You're getting the hang of it. Now I'll play along on the piano, and remember, when I get to the chorus, you do that fancy roll we talked about, and then do the chorus with the ride cymbal, okay?"

"Okay," Rory agreed hesitantly. "I’ll see if I can."

"Excellent job," Miss Applewhite told him when they'd done a verse and chorus successfully. "Actually, though, I have an even better idea--"

"Tell it to me tomorrow. I'm gettin' kinda tired," Rory said. "Besides, I don't wanna miss supper."

"Oh, I won't let you miss supper," Miss Applewhite assured him. "This will be simple. Instead of hitting the snare drum on the verses, let’s find out how it sounds using the rim shot."

"No. That will be too hard," Rory complained. "I just learned how to do the rim shot a few days ago, but I won't be able to think about how to do that, plus the high-hat all at the same time."

"Let's just give it a try," Miss Applewhite insisted. "You thought you'd never be able to do the rim shot either, and now look at you. You don't even need the wood block anymore. So don't give up on something before you've even attempted it. That's not being a very good sport."

Rory sighed loudly. "I don't wanna do this," he muttered, even as his arms and legs were already beginning the rhythm. Within a couple of minutes Miss Applewhite's high expectations were again fulfilled.

"That's wonderful, Rory; I knew you could do it! Now let's just see if we can vary the rhythm a little bit--"

"No!" Rory rebelled vehemently this time. "I bet you couldn't even do some of this stuff. I don't wanna learn any more things right now."

"Rory," said Miss Applewhite sternly, “what kind of way is that to talk to your teacher?”

"I'm goin' home," said Rory determinedly, as he got up from his stool and headed for the door. "Mom says she's makin' fish and fried macaroni for supper, and I don't wanna be late."

"Rory, you come back here right now. I haven't dismissed you yet," Miss Applewhite called after him indignantly, reaching out her hand in an endeavor to catch him before he could get away.

Rory, however, was too quick for her. He leaped from her grasp just in time, and ran out the door. His teacher was left behind with only his beanie in her hand, which she had snatched from his head in her effort to stop his escape.

You'd think that Kim and I would have been more patient with our brother after that little incident and not try to push him quite so hard, but no such luck. Right after supper, we were back at it again, having our usual weekend practice session with Dad. Fortunately, Rory's enthusiasm for playing music had already returned by that point. This was probably mostly due to the fact that he knew that Dad's presence would keep things from getting too out-of-hand.

Tonight would be the first time we'd practiced together as a band since Uncle Rick's departure, and Kim and I weren't really looking forward to it. Rick had done a lot of the musical arrangements and had come up with most of the unique ideas. What would we do now without that input--not to mention without a lead guitar to add fancy licks and improve upon the melody lines of our songs? We knew we'd have to just accept the fact that this second album was destined not to be as good as the first one had been, but taking so many steps backward after all the progress we'd made was very difficult.

The atmosphere that evening was much more somber and far less energetic than was typical for our Saturday night sessions. Usually we would have burst into a spontaneous mini-jam session before getting down to business, but we didn't have the heart for that this evening. Instead, we dutifully took our places in front of our instruments and waited for the new order of procedure to take effect, whatever that might be. Finally, Dad strummed his guitar a couple of times and said in what sounded to me like a falsely enthusiastic tone, "Well, first on the list is our 'Cross Country' instrumental. What do you suppose we should do with that one?"

My sister and I sat there silently for several moments. Then Kim spoke up. "I think we should just get rid of it," was her blunt response. "It won't sound nearly as good without Uncle Rick's lead guitar, and I don't think Ror is quite steady enough yet to be able to do the beginning intro all on his own, like Denny did."

None of us could dispute what she said, so Dad resignedly agreed that she was probably right. "Even if we take that one out though, we still have more songs than most albums do," he reminded us, wanting to put the best light possible on the situation.

This time, though, it was my turn to put the damper on it. "But of course, now we won't have Rick's and Denny's songs, either," I said unhappily.

"Well, maybe we can come up with something else to take their place," Dad suggested. But that prospect wasn't a pleasant one this late in the game either.

Rory was the only person who didn't seem to be very affected by Uncle Rick’s absence. He did an impressive drum-roll and crashed around on his cymbals until Dad finally told him to tone it down a bit.

"Dad, I know how to do a good high-hat beat now," Rory told him proudly. "Just listen to this." And he proceeded to show Dad his latest achievement.

"Wow! How did you learn that all of a sudden?"

""I dunno," Rory replied. "I just kept workin' at it, and pretty soon I got the hang of it."

"Miss Applewhite helped you, didn't she?" Kim hinted knowingly, deciding it was only fair to give credit where credit was due.

"No, not really," insisted Rory. "She just kept buggin' me, until I finally got mad and went home. She even grabbed my beanie; wonder where it is now?"

"I think she brought it home and put it on the table," answered Kim hurriedly, and then quickly changed the subject. "Dad, I’ve been thinking about something I could do on the keyboard for ‘Try a Little Kindness’, since Uncle Rick isn’t here to do that nifty guitar part anymore.”

I swallowed hard, trying not to think about the incredible guitar accompaniment that Rick had come up with to embellish the song. We would just have to make do with what we had left. Kim was fiddling with the buttons and slides on the electric keyboard where she sat. "Wonder what would happen if I used a lot of violins on the intro, with a little sustain added in?" she said thoughtfully, adjusting the sound a bit more while she spoke.

In fact, it didn’t sound bad, at all. Different from what the effect had been before, naturally, but definitely worth listening to and expounding upon in its own right.

"I'll play the piano at the lower end, so those high violins will stick out more," I reasoned. "And why don't we try to slow down the ending, like this..." I demonstrated what I was thinking, and the others agreed that it was a good idea.

We went over the song again, and as we did, I concentrated on putting as much variety into my piano-playing as I could, since we no longer had the lead guitar to fill in extra notes. I observed that some of the energy and excitement which had been lacking before, now seemed to be returning somewhat. Maybe, just maybe, with God's help, we could pull this off after all.

We rehearsed the song a couple more times and noted that it kept getting better with each successive attempt. "So far, so good," I had to admit to myself. Now if we could just keep the ideas flowing in a similar fashion for the rest of the night, we'd have it made. I figured that was probably wishful thinking, though. What we'd accomplished already tonight was more than we'd dared to hope for.

" Let's do 'Lord, Hear My Prayer' next," Dad suggested. Kim and I switched instruments, and Dad began to sing. He stopped mid-way through the chorus, though. "I just got a brainstorm. I wonder what it would sound like if we did it more like this?”

We started again, only this time Dad’s voice had a new timbre, and he was using a different style of singing. He changed the melody slightly, as well, and I had to confess that I liked the revised version a lot. It apparently inspired Kim, too, because she was playing differently than she had been before.

“Sounds really good, Kim,” Dad praised her. “How did you come up with that?”

Kim told him that she’d recently learned the slurring technique she’d chosen from listening to one of Mickey Gilley’s records.

“Well, however you’re doing it, keep it up.; it really adds a lot to the song."

"What's next?" I asked eagerly. It was hard to believe we were now actually anticipating each song, instead of dreading it. God was certainly giving us an extra measure of creativity tonight. It was impossible to ignore the fact that He must really want us to go forward with our plans in spite of everything.

"I think we'll do 'Little, But I'm Loud' next. How does that sound? Are you ready to give that a try, Ror?"

"Sure," Rory obliged without hesitation. "I know I won't have to sing and drum at the same time for the record, but I should still practice it that way, so I'll be able to do it at the concerts, right?"

"Not a bad idea," Dad agreed. "Let's give it a whirl."

I recalled with irony the first time Kim and I had broached the question to our parents of whether we could be allowed to play and sing at the same time. We had been way more than twice Rory’s age. But I decided it best to refrain from reminding anybody of that fact right now.

Rory, of course, did a great job. I couldn't help but wish that Uncle Rick was there to hear how well we were managing this evening. I was so proud of my little brother as he ran through the song without a hitch. Afterward, Kim suggested that to add an extra little touch, it might be a neat idea to modulate to a new key on the last verse and chorus. We tried it and agreed it was a good plan.

The rest of the practice session that night went just as well as the first part had. It was decided that we'd even get Mom involved in the action by asking her to play her tambourine on a couple of the tunes. Kim and I thought of a different-sounding beat for Rory to do on the verses of one of our songs, which would add a unique flavor; the chorus was played with a 4-4 rhythm, while the verses would now be done in more of a 2-4 pattern. When we'd gone through all of the songs, Dad suddenly had yet another brain-storm.

"I just got to thinking--you know that song Denny was going to do, 'Outlaw's Prayer'?"

"Yeah, what about it?" we asked in unison.

"Well, instead of that, how about I do the story out of Grandma's scrapbook about the school teacher? I’ll just read the story, and you girls can play some nice background music. I think that would be a good way to close out the album."

"Good idea," I affirmed eagerly. “That will probably end up being one of people’s favorites.”

"And you could even close out our concerts with that same song,” Kim added. "It would be a good lead-in for how you usually like to end the program, explaining to people about becoming a Christian and what that means and everything."

We couldn't wait to tell Mom all about how productive our evening had been. She was very happy to hear that everything had gone so well, and it gave us all a much-needed boost to carry us through until the time came for recording our second album.

The big day finally arrived, and we felt well-prepared for what was to come. I think that even more than the final product, what we were looking forward to most at that moment was showing off Rory's talents to Harvey, the recording engineer who had produced our first project and would be doing the same for this one.

Harvey was very professional about it, though, and simply treated him like one of the guys. The only time he deviated from this pattern was when he'd finally had enough of Rory's big sisters' constant little criticisms and corrections of their brother's drumming.

"Ror, you were a little late coming in with that new beat after the chorus. Try it again."

"Ror, you're dragging a little bit. Be sure to listen to the rest of us and stay right with the rhythm."

"Don't forget that fancy roll before we head into the chorus, Ror."

"For Pete's sake, you girls! The kid is only what--five years old? Give him a break, all right?" Harvey's exasperated voice came through the speaker into the room where we were recording.

Then we heard input from Mom, too. "That's right Kim/Kon," she said, referring to us in the single-name-combination she often used when reprimanding us both. “He doesn’t have to do everything 100% perfect.” Then in a lower tone, she added for Harvey’s benefit, "We all forget he's just a kid most of the time. I'm glad you told them to lighten up a little."

Kim and I realized it would do no good to point out that the only reason we expected so much of Rory was that we knew he was always capable of delivering whatever we requested of him. Instead, we just made certain that our directives to Rory were not spoken into the microphone after this incident, in order that Harvey would not be able to hear us.

Just as he had done on our first album, Harvey was always on the lookout for ways of making the recording the best it could be. At one point, he suggested that we double our vocal tracks, to have the effect of giving our voices a fuller sound. It seemed funny for all of us to be singing along with ourselves, but we all liked the finished product very much, and were glad he'd given us the idea. Harvey also thought we might consider adding some extra harmony tracks and additional instrumentation, using some different guitars and keyboards that he would make available to us. Dad wasn't so eager to take his advice on this score, however.

"Why don't you wanna do it, Dad?” I asked in surprise. “It would make everything sound even better, to have more variety.”

"I don't like it when I hear a record that sounds totally different than the real thing," was Dad's logic. "When people go to see an artist, they want the music to sound just the way it does on the records. So I don't want to do things on this album that we won't be able to copy during our live performances.”

"But why is it any different than letting us sing over our vocal tracks?" Kim wanted to know. "We won't be able to do that on stage either, but we did it on the record."

"Don't remind him," I said dubiously. "He might decide to undo that now that you mentioned it."

"No, this is different," Dad reasoned. "All that did was to improve the quality of our voices, because we just sang the same notes over again that we'd sung the first time. We didn't add anything extra, like we’d be doing if we put in some entirely new instruments."

Reluctantly, we agreed that he was probably right. And in the end, we had to admit that it was a good feeling to realize that there wasn't anything on the album that we wouldn't be able to emulate perfectly during our shows.

"Maybe when we get back home, we can look into getting a keyboard synthesizer for you guys," Dad compromised. "That way you'll have a whole lot more instrument voices to work with, and we'll have even more sounds on our future albums."

"Cool!" said Kim with anticipation. "But how will we be able to play it, if one of us is always on the piano, and the other one has to use our electric keyboard to play the bass guitar sound?"

"I'm sure we can figure something out," Dad promised. "Maybe we can position the synthesizer in such a way that you'll be able to reach over and play it with your other hand, while doing the bass with your left."

Our second album caused just as much stir for our family and friends as the first one had. This was likely due to the fact that everyone was curious about how a 5-year-old could possibly be good enough to drum on a record. When the demo finally arrived in the mail, everyone once again gathered in our living-room to listen to it together. Even though our grandparents had heard Rory drumming a few times at our recent concerts, they were amazed by the great job he had done. Kim and I couldn’t help but take pride in the fact that we had taught him many of the skills that he was now demonstrating on each song, but we knew our responsibility was far from over. In fact, it was just beginning.

Our work was indeed cut out for us as we began making plans for the third album, which would be called "Country Gospel Blend." This time, Rory wouldn't be able to just copy the basic rhythms that Denny had already laid down for him before leaving the group. Now it would be completely up to us to assist Rory in creating and cultivating his own drumming style, and try to come up with interesting and unique new ideas to give each song a special touch.

Even little Reed was going to sing on this third album. He would be nearly three by then, which we thought was high time that he begin developing his own musical talents. He was growing up to be quite a charming little boy. Reed was never in a bad mood. Even when his asthma was acting up and his breathing became labored, this didn't slow him down any. He never complained about anything and was always happy and carefree. It was impossible to imagine that there had ever been a time when he wasn't an essential part of the family.

In spite of the age difference, Reed was Rory's constant companion and playmate when Kim and I were at school. Mom often made the comment that just as God had given Kim and me each other, He sure knew what He was doing when He gave Rory a little brother to play with and love too. They looked out for one another and stuck together, just as Kim and I always had. Rory enjoyed having someone closer to his own age to interact with now, and Reed certainly looked up to and admired his big brother, as well.

One day when Rory was playing our little organ and trying to record some songs he had learned, Reed was making a bunch of racket in the background and distracting his brother. Rather than get mad at him though, Rory just calmly suggested to Reed that it was time for his nap, and that he should go and notify Mom of this. Reed dutifully went in search of his mother, and when he found her he obediently did as Rory had instructed. "Ror says I'm supposed to remind you that it's time for my nap now," he informed her. "But I don't wanna take my nap!" he protested tearfully at the end of his little monologue. Nevertheless, Mom hid her amusement and told him that it was, indeed, getting close to his nap time, and then proceeded to put him to bed.

Even at a young age, Reed was always thinking and usually had a witty comment ready for any occasion. Once when Mom told him to put away his toys, he replied innocently with the logic that "I wanna take turns like you say we should. I took the toys out, so now you put them away."

Unlike the rest of us, Reed had a mop of curly hair, which was so cute and adorable that Mom found it hard to have it cut. Whenever anyone asked him where he got his curly hair, his matter-of-fact response was that "God gave it to me," as though wondering what could be more obvious.

True to their word, Mom and Dad helped us purchase a synthesizer that year, and we loved it immediately. The control panel had buttons similar to those on a calculator, with a different instrument sound for every 2-digit combination from eleven through ninety-nine!

"This is going to make our music sound so much better!" Kim exclaimed joyfully.

"I can't wait to give it a try," I agreed with fervor. "Now we'll have so many instruments to choose from that we might have to start Brailling up a song list before each program, so we can remember what we're doing for each one."

From that point on, each time we had a booking, one of us would take her turn at the Brailler--putting two sheets of paper in at once, so that both of us would have a copy. Then Mom would read off the song titles that we'd all chosen for that particular program, while we took notes.

We also had another reason to be joyful that spring. It was looking more and more likely that Kim and I might be able to begin attending high school in Lemmon the following year. An IEP (individual education plan) meeting had been scheduled at the school in Aberdeen to discuss the matter. Many blind students were now being mainstreamed into their own communities, and we reasoned that we should be allowed to do the same. For the past two years, we had already been attending a couple of classes at a local public junior-high school in Aberdeen, just to get our feet wet, as it were.

"We'll just leave it in God's hands," Dad said. "We've been praying about this for several years already, and we believe our prayers are being answered. Now we'll just trust in Him to work out all the details.”

PostScript by the Author: The following is an audio link to "I'm Little, but I'm Loud," Rory's solo on our second record album, Cross Country. As stated above, he was five years old on this recording. Unfortunately, this was before the days of video, but what you'll be hearing is our dad playing rhythm guitar, my sister, Kim on piano, me on bass and strings, (we girls also doing backup vocals) and Rory drumming and lead vocals. I thought this would be a neat way to close out the chapter, as tangible evidence of God's goodness and provision. Enjoy.

Chapter 2

Chapter 2
Music in his Blood

"Hey, everybody, be quiet a minute and listen to this. You're not gonna believe it!" I cried excitedly one day when Rory was about six months old. It was a Sunday afternoon, and we were all at my grandparents' house, where Gram had just made us a big, delicious dinner as usual, before we made the weekly trip to the school in Aberdeen.

Everyone stopped their conversation and listened quietly. I jiggled Rory on my lap to keep him awake. It was past his nap time, and I knew he'd be asleep any minute. "Okay, now do it, again," I coaxed my brother. "You remember how to sing, right?"

Slowly and clearly I began to hum the tune for "Jesus Loves Me," which I'd been singing to him a few seconds earlier. Rory laid his head back down on my shoulder contentedly, glad to be hearing his favorite lullaby again.

"No, you can't go to sleep, yet," I pleaded as I jiggled him to keep him awake. "First you have to sing 'Jesus Loves Me' like you did a minute ago."

Everyone continued to wait in anticipation, but nothing happened. "What did he do, anyway?" Kim demanded to know.

"He was humming it!" I said in frustration. But I could tell by the silent response that no one really believed me.

"I was rocking him to sleep, and I thought he was napping, so I stopped singing," I explained further. "I guess he wanted me to keep humming it, because all of a sudden, his little head came up, and he started humming it, himself."

"How could he know the tune?" Kim asked skeptically. "He's just a baby!"

"Quiet, he's doin' it again," I exclaimed.

They all listened attentively, and sure enough, as though to prove my point, Rory began humming the song once more.

"Wow! He's really doing it!" Kim breathed in wonder. "It's right in tune, and even the right rhythm, and everything."

Rory hummed the song all the way to the end, and was rewarded by loud and long cheers and applause from his entire family. Tickled to have so much attention, he promptly did it all over again, and got the same result.

"Now do it for me," Kim insisted, grabbing her brother away from me. Rory bounced gleefully in her arms, and obligingly, began to hum the entire song for the third time.

"Well, I'll be darned," Gramp declared unbelievingly. "He is singing it, sure enough."

"There's no denying that kid has music in his blood," Dad agreed.

Needless to say, we were all very enthralled with this most recent accomplishment from our very own baby. Kim and I hardly gave him any peace during the whole trip to Aberdeen. We kept experimenting with him, to see if he'd still remember what he'd done after waking from a little snooze, and to test whether he might have stored any other songs in his brain, besides Jesus Loves Me. We could hardly wait to get back to school, in order to impress the other girls in the dorm with our incredibly talented little brother.

As the months went by, Rory's musical appreciation continued to become even more apparent to the family. Shortly after learning to walk, he started dancing to music. Whenever Mom turned on the radio, or Kim and I pulled out the bench to play the piano, Rory would begin to spin around enthusiastically in
time with the music. He'd even join in vocally, as well. He invented a way of modulating his voice to match whatever rhythm was being played, kind of like having his own portable drum-set at his disposal for whenever the need arose.

Soon Rory began to accompany our frequent jam sessions with ice-cream buckets and spoons. Pie plates made great cymbals and/or snare drums, and different-sized containers were used for the different sounding drums. This makeshift drum kit could be quickly gathered and assembled at a moment's notice. He'd beat them so hard that the buckets never lasted very long, but this gave our dad a good excuse to eat plenty of dessert.

When Rory was about two, he began traveling with the family band, so he could sing a couple of songs at the concerts. He loved being able to sing in the microphone, and hearing all the applause. He didn't ever seem to be nervous or shy, and you never knew what he might divulge to the audience at any of
these performances. Mom always joked that it's a good thing we didn't have any big family secrets, because they wouldn't stay secret for long.

"And now I believe it's time for my little son, Rory to come up here and do a number or two for you all," Dad might say by way of introduction. That was Mom's cue to bring Rory up to the front.

"Testing, one two three four," Rory said into the mike, as he'd heard Dad do several times during set-up.

"What are you going to sing for us tonight?" Dad asked him.

"It's bubbling," Rory replied promptly. "And I have to do a good job, or the girls said they would pull my hair."

This remark was followed by a burst of laughter from the people in the audience. Dad cleared his throat and tried to change the subject. "And how old
are you now, Rory?"

"I'm two years old," he stated without hesitation. "And my sisters are 12, and you're 39."

More laughter. Rory waited patiently for it to die down before delivering the punch line. “And Mom is 32,” he declared emphatically.

"All right then, thank you," Dad said above the laughter and smattering of applause. "Let's go ahead and sing your song now."

Which Rory subsequently did. Afterward, while the last notes were still being played, and before the people even had a chance to clap for him, Rory asked loudly, "Now can I have my bubble-gum, Mom? I did a good job, right?"

"Yes, you can have your gum now," Mom whispered, as she hurriedly removed him from the spotlight, amidst more laughter and applause.

One day, shortly after he turned three, I was sitting with Rory on my lap, telling him a story while Kim played some familiar melodies on the piano. I could tell he was distracted by something and not really paying attention to my story. "What's the matter?" I asked him.

"That song Kim is playin' doesn't sound right," he said in a puzzled tone, after listening intently to the music for several minutes.

I shrugged. "It sounds pretty much the same as always to me."

"No, it should go like this," Rory said, humming the same tune Kim was playing, except in a higher key. "That's how it is on the radio."

"Oh, that's just because Kim must be playing in a different key than it sounds on the radio," I explained. Then I stopped short, as what Rory had just said began to sink in. "Wait a minute," I said incredulously. "How do you know what key the song is supposed to be played in, anyway?"

"I just do," he answered matter-of-factly, as though there were nothing unusual about having this skill. "Don't you know how it should sound?"

"Hey, Kim, stop playing a minute," I exclaimed excitedly. "I can't get over this! I think Ror can tell keys apart!"

We later learned that the correct term for this ability was to have "perfect pitch." At the time, though, we weren't even aware that any other humans had ever done such a thing! So Rory seemed like a true musical genius to us, indeed! We did have reason to be amazed, however, because being able to identify the different notes audibly is a gift which only a very few people are innately given. And for Rory to be able to demonstrate this knowledge at such a
young age was quite remarkable, to be sure!

Kim played several different notes on the piano at random, just to see if she could trick our brother. "Now, can you still tell me what key you sing "Jesus Loves Me" in at our concerts?" she quizzed him.

Without hesitation, Rory started singing. Kim found the key of C where we normally played the tune, and began playing along with him.

"He's right!" I marveled. "And he didn't even have to think about it."

"Wow! This is sure something!" Kim said, hardly able to believe what she was hearing, either. Then, unable to resist finding out just how much Rory's brain could take in, she played a C and told him what it was called. Then she went one note higher, and explained this was the key of D.

"Just like D comes after C in the alphabet," I put in. (Rory had been able to recite his ABC's for a year already.)

Next, Kim played a series of C and D notes in several different octaves, in order to test Rory's ability to identify them correctly. He never missed even one.

"I bet I know what the next note is called," Rory said triumphantly. "E!"

"That's right!" I confirmed proudly--covering his head with kisses and giving him a big squeeze.

It wasn't long before Rory could name all of the musical notes, including the sharps and flats! Often he would remind us of where a song should be played, or proudly correct his dad when he'd accidentally hit a wrong chord on the guitar.

"Dad, you have to go to a G when it gets to the chorus," Rory told him. "I think this song would be easier if you would put the capo on the 2nd fret."

Whenever Rory heard a new song for the first time, his initial fascination was with the musical aspect. He would pick the melody apart piece by piece, until he was able to tell you precisely which instruments were played in any given section. If it was a song he really liked, he usually knew exactly
what notes each instrument played throughout the entire selection, as well. Once he had the music down to a science, it was then time to focus on the lyrics.

One day, Mom found him sitting next to the radio, tears streaming down his face. "Why, Ror, what's the matter?" she asked in concern. Although he was sensitive by nature, it certainly wasn't like him to be crying without a good reason.

"That little boy is so mean to his dad," Rory sobbed.

"What little boy?" Mom asked, completely bewildered by what he said.

"That boy on the song," Rory answered through his tears. "He won't even open the door and let his dad come into the house."

"What do you mean?" Mom asked, still puzzled.

Rory sniffled and attempted to calm down a little. "That man in the song keeps saying, 'Honey, honey, won't you open the door?' And then he says, 'This
is your sweet daddy, don't you love me no more?' And the poor man is cold, and has to sleep on the floor, and everything, but his son just stands there and won't let him in!" The tears began to flow heavily again, as Rory recounted the tragic story.

Mom hugged him and patiently tried to comfort her own little boy by assuring him that it was just a song, and that it was actually talking about a not-so-nice husband who was always trying to convince his wife to take pity on him. Rory was somewhat mollified, but the incident showed us all how literal Rory was,
and also made us aware of just how closely he was paying attention to the things going on around him, and taking them to heart.

As Rory grew, his interest in music continued to develop even more. Looking back, I can now see that he definitely wasn't your typical three-year-old. At the time, though, he was just my little brother, Ror. Nothing more, nothing less. Without realizing it, we were all subconsciously helping him to stretch
his potential as far as it could go. He seemed always able to deliver whatever we required of him, so we simply continued to keep expecting more and more from him, in countless little ways.

Before long, Rory was harmonizing with us on some of our songs, as well as singing several of his own. One of his favorite pastimes was when Kim or I or both of us would sit down at the piano and let him join in on his kazoo or wood-knockers, and lately even the harmonica--which was his most recent fascination.

Whenever we were on the road going to and from school or traveling to one of our concerts, we were still not without music. If the eight-track player wasn't in use, the three of us kids would often burst into song ourselves, doing a three-part a capella trio.

If we weren't singing, Kim and I would spend long hours during road-trips playing travel-games with our brother, such as 20-questions or memory games. We rarely "let him win" unless it was deserved. But as though determined not to be outdone by mere sisters, he proved to be good competition. Sometimes
Kim and I would make rhythmic patterns by clapping our hands, and see if Rory could copy what we did. If he succeeded, we'd make the patterns more complicated.

Besides games like this, we might keep occupied by indulging in some other form of educational activity—teaching Rory about rhyming words, opposites, synonyms, or syllable identification. When this became boring, Kim and I would sometimes become a little more mischievous with our forms of entertainment.

"Ror, do you know who I am?" I would ask in a high-pitched voice.

"Is that you, Henrietta?" Rory asked, always eager to play with one of his imaginary friends, which Kim and I created for him.

"No, I'm someone else," the voice replied.

"Who are you?" Rory wanted to know.

"Guess."

"I don't know; if you're not Henrietta, I give up."

"I told you! Guess!" I shot back at him.

"I did guess," Rory said patiently.

"No! I don't mean that!" I insisted. "My name is Guess!"

"Mom," Rory called up to the front seat in frustration, "Kon is buggin' me!"

"Knock it off, Konnie!" Mom warned tiredly, without much hope that her reprimand would be heeded.

"But I did tell you who I am," I said innocently to my brother. "I'm Guess!"

Rory thought for a few seconds. "You mean your name is Guess?" he finally asked hopefully.

"Guess!" was my reply.

"Your name is Guess!" he said triumphantly.

"Why should I guess? I already know my own name," I said.

"No! I don't mean you should guess," he countered. "I just mean I'm telling you your name; it's Guess!"

"Very good," I finally conceded. "You're a pretty sharp little boy, you know that?"

"Now, would you like to know who I am?" Kim asked in a similar high-pitched voice.

"Who?" Rory asked, always game for a new challenge.

"Nobody," my sister answered in the high voice.

"Oh, so you're Nobody!" Rory exclaimed knowingly.

"I'm somebody; why did you say I'm nobody?" Kim asked in an offended tone.

"You guys!" Mom said, with almost as much exasperation as Rory must have been feeling. "Stop it now."

"I didn't mean you aren't anybody," Rory explained carefully. "I just mean your name is Nobody."

"You're right," Kim consented. "What a smart boy."

"Now Ror, remember to sing loud and clear in the mike tonight," I reminded him sternly. "Last time you mumbled a couple of your words, and people couldn't understand what you were saying!"

"And you also sang a few of your notes a little bit too high, at the beginning of 'It's Bubbling'," Kim added. "You can sing better than that."

"I did that on purpose," Rory admitted. "Just to be funny, and see how it would sound."

"Ror, you know better than that!" I accused, giving his hair a tug. "You don't ever be silly in the microphone!"

Undaunted, Rory took a sip from his pop-bottle. "Hey, I got this bottle to be in the key of C!" he announced happily. "Kim, if you drink a little more
of yours, you can make an E note, and Kon's is almost full, so she can be G! Then we can make a nice chord when we blow in our bottles at the same time!”

"Or we could make C, D and E, and play ‘Mary had a Little Lamb’ like we do with that neat push-button telephone at Debbie's house," Kim suggested.

When we got to wherever we were going, Kim and I would usually go off exploring the new church or building where we would be doing the concert. Rory, on the other hand, always had to be in the thick of whatever was going on. He was very curious, and had lots of questions for Dad while the equipment was
being set up--soaking up every bit of knowledge he could about all the aspects of what went on behind the scenes.

"Where do you plug in your guitar?" he might ask.

"Right here," Dad would reply, taking his hand and showing him which connection fit into which socket in the amplifying equipment.

"Hmm," Rory said, intrigued. "What would happen if you put it in this other hole?"

Rory was always on hand to help tune up the instruments and get them balanced correctly, too.

"That second string needs to be a little bit higher, Dad," he would say. "And the next one is flat, too. How did you ever tune your guitar before I was born?"

"It took a lot longer; that's for sure," Dad admitted.

"And do you still remember that new chord I showed ya the other day?" Rory asked, wanting to be certain there would be no goofs when it came time to perform.

Dad thought for a minute. "Not really. Which song was that again?”

"Remember, the girls wanted to try going to that new-fangled minor chord during the chorus of 'Try a Little Kindness,'" Rory reminded him. "It's pretty much like a regular A chord, but your third finger just moves down one fret."

Ironically enough, Rory's favorite type of music as a child was waltzes and polkas--probably because he heard so much old-time music whenever he visited his grandparents' house. Grandpa began letting him experiment with his mouth organs, just as he had with me several years earlier. He would let Rory
touch his face as he played so Rory could see how he moved the harmonica for the different notes--exhaling for some and inhaling for others.

Rory could often be found sitting next to Gramp as he would pick the guitar and sing his favorite songs from when he was a boy. Sometimes Rory would kneel in front of Grandpa and practice strumming along with him.

"Can I try to do it myself?" Rory begged, as he carefully took the guitar from his grandpa and tried to wield the cumbersome object as easily as Gramp had done.

"It's still too big and heavy for you to handle," Grandpa admonished. "You'll have to wait until you're a little older."

But Rory had an idea. "Not if I do it like this," he said as he laid the guitar down across his lap and rested his fingers on top. "Now I can reach the frets a lot easier, too. Otherwise my hand was too little to get around the neck of the guitar

"Hmm," Gramp said thoughtfully "I don't know if that will work or not. I've never heard of anybody doing it like that. And anyway, you have it laying backwards right now. You should turn it this way." He picked up the guitar and positioned it so that the neck of the guitar was on Rory's left side, rather than on his right.

Rory obligingly strummed a few notes, but then decided to put the guitar back the way it had been a few moments earlier. "I like it better with the frets
over here," he told Grandpa in a matter-of-fact tone. "I guess I'm just more used to it, because that's how it is for me whenever I kneel in front of you. And I like strumming with my other hand."

Grandpa laughed. "Well, you have plenty of time to figure it all out," he said. "Just keep working on it, and I'm sure that someday you'll be a star.”

Chapter 1

Chapter 1
God's Plan

I was 9 years old when my brother was born. For as long as I could remember, it had been my dream, and that of my twin sister, Kim, to have a baby sister or brother of our own. So needless to say, we were overjoyed when we learned that our wish was about to become a reality!

As it happened, having a baby brother turned out to be as good in real life as we anticipated it would be. We doted on him from the moment he was first placed on our laps as a 3-day-old infant. My sister and I had been away all week at the school for the blind in Aberdeen, SD, more than 200 miles away from home. So waiting to see him for the first time was obviously agonizing for both of us.

To avoid Rory's welcome home from turning into a heated argument over who should hold him first, somebody came up with the brilliant idea of placing Rory on a pillow which was laid across both of our laps. And so we sat for several hours, until Mom finally said it was bedtime. The only thing we insisted on was having Mom switch the baby's position from time to time, so that we could take turns "having the head" on our lap, while the other one was relegated to being happy with just his feet.

The first thing I remember about Rory was his lusty cry--which he showed us immediately upon his arrival home from the hospital. He cried a lot that first night, after my sister and I had gone to bed. Mom told us he must have a mild case of colic, but we were convinced it was only that he missed our companionship.

The next morning, I quietly walked to the bassinette where he was sleeping, and ever so carefully picked him up and carried him out to the other room to greet the rest of the family. My grandma was the first to notice me, and she rushed over--alarmed to see me walking with him unaided. It didn't take her long to realize, however, that she need not have worried. Kim and I were very careful with him, and always shielded his head with our hand in case we should encounter an unexpected obstacle in our path.

I could tell right away that Mom and Dad were very proud of their new son's arrival into the family. Dad was impressed with his strong grip, which he demonstrated each time someone put their finger into his hand. We were all amused when Rory's hand moved over Dad's shirt-pocket the first time he held his boy for an extended period. "Are you looking for the check-book, already, son?" Dad quipped. "Starting a little young, aren't you?"

"I wonder if he'll like music, and be a singer someday," Kim mused.

"Of course, he will!" I assured her, as though there could be no doubt. "How else could he be in the family band?"

"He'll have you girls to teach him," Grandpa pointed out. "So I'm sure it won't take him long to learn the songs."

"And we can teach him other stuff, too," Kim added--already thinking ahead to the time when Rory would be old enough to become our own built-in, ready-made student and playmate. She and I had already decided we wanted to be teachers when we grew up, so we knew our brother would give us good practice.

Kim and I hadn’t been too thrilled to learn that we had a baby brother instead of a sister at first. Some of our classmates had little brothers, and we had come to the conclusion that when they reached about 4 years of age, they became a huge pain, and made it their business to wreck all their older sisters' belongings. But once we met our own brother, all these fears vanished, and there was never any question but that he would be the ideal baby and grow up to be the best little boy that anyone could ask for--with us to help mold him, of course.

We were very grateful that we didn't have to stay at the school for months at a time as most of the other kids did. Our parents had committed to bringing us home every weekend. It was hard enough to wait until Fridays to see Rory and catch up on how he'd grown while we were away all week. We couldn't wait until summer, when we'd have three whole months to be with him every day, uninterrupted! We loved helping to care for and play with him. We were so proud when he made his first cooing sound, and the whole family gathered around the couch to listen when he laughed for the first time. We were glad Mom never asked us to help change a diaper though! We would often hold our nose and make sure we were at the other end of the house when that was being done. But other than that, we couldn't think of anything wrong with our brother. In our opinion, he was just a perfect baby!

One day when Rory was three months old, Mom told us that she would be taking Rory to have a check-up and some shots. Kim and I didn't like the idea of having our sweet brother poked and prodded with needles, but Mom had assured us that it was normal procedure, and something that all babies needed to have done. She promised the doctor would be as gentle as possible, and that Rory would probably sleep through most of it and only fuss for a few seconds when the time for the shot came.

When Mom got back with Rory, though, she seemed very quiet and a little sad. We asked how the appointment had gone, and if everything was okay with our brother, and she told us he was doing just fine. So I couldn't figure out why she and Dad were so subdued.

That evening, Dad took Kim and me for a motor-cycle ride, which was one of our favorite activities! When we returned to the house, Dad stopped the engine, and the three of us just sat out there for awhile, listening to the crickets and talking together as we often did just before bedtime.

"Soon we'll be too big to fit all three of us on the motor-cycle at one time," Kim observed. "Mom better get one before long, so there will be enough room for everybody.

"Yeah," I agreed. "Especially after Ror gets big enough to ride, too."

"I bet he'll like motor-cycles even better than we do," Kim commented. "'Cause, he's a boy an' everything."

"He'll probably even wanna get one of his own someday," I said. "Would you let him get one if he wants to, Dad--when he's old enough, I mean?"

Dad was quiet for a long moment. Then he cleared his throat and said carefully, "Well, I don't think he'll be getting one of his own. He'll just have to be happy riding with me, like you guys do."

"How come?" I wanted to know. "Other boys get cars and motor-cycles and stuff like that when they're teenagers."

"Well, that's true," Dad admitted. "But Rory wouldn't be able to drive one."

"Why not?" Kim asked. "Couldn't you teach him?"

"I’m afraid not,” Dad told her. "We found out today that Rory can't see."

"You mean, he's blind like us?" we both asked in unison, a little shocked by this news.

"That's right," Dad replied. "We've actually known this for quite awhile already, but the doctor confirmed it today."

I thought the doctors always told you that if you had more kids, they wouldn't be blind," Kim reminded him.

"I guess they were wrong," I answered her a little condescendingly. Then turning back to my father, I went on soothingly, "But we can always teach him Braille like we taught Gramp, So then maybe he won't have to go away to school like we do."

"I still don't get why he's blind, though," Kim persisted. "How do you know he can't see, anyway? He seems normal to me."

"Yes, he is a normal little baby," Dad agreed. "But he just doesn't follow movements with his eyes the way other babies do. And he doesn't reach out for a toy or anything unless we put it in his hand. So that's how we know he can't see."

Kim and I were quiet for several minutes, digesting all this information. Finally I said cautiously, "But Dad, you've always said that God was going to heal us someday and make us see. So why would He let you have another blind kid?"

"I don't know why," Dad said. "But I do know that God has a reason. You know that verse I've told you so many times, which says that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose? This means God has a plan for everything that happens. He knows why you guys are blind, and why Rory can't see, either. He has a special purpose for all of it, and we just have to remember that and keep going the best we know how, until He shows us what that purpose is."

"Maybe it's so He can work an even bigger miracle," I offered. "Or so that more people will hear about our family and then learn about God. After all, I don't know of any other families that have three blind kids."

"I guess that means we're kind of a special family," Kim reasoned.

"Come on, you guys,” Mom called through the kitchen window just then. “The mosquitoes are gonna eat you alive if you stay out much longer. It’s getting late, anyway, and time you two were in bed."

I lay awake for a long time that night, turning restlessly from one side to the other. Finally I decided to talk with Kim about everything we'd just learned. Maybe she could help me sort out my own thoughts better.

Unfortunately, just as I was about to nudge her and ask if she were still awake, I heard a soft snore beside me. I decided to let her keep sleeping, and try to do the same, myself. So I lay very still and closed my eyes, waiting for sleep to come.

It was at that moment that I heard the faint sound of voices, coming from down the hall. Mom and Dad were in the middle of a serious discussion of some kind. I sat up and strained to hear what they were saying, but couldn't make out the words.

Suddenly, Mom came down the hall to check on us one last time, as was her customary routine. Quickly I lay back down on the pillow and turned my head toward the wall. I breathed deeply, just as Kim was doing. Mom must have been convinced that we were both sleeping, because she and Dad no longer tried quite so hard to keep their voices down.

To my surprise, it sounded like Dad was telling Mom the exact same things he had mentioned to Kim and me earlier--about how God had a plan, and that it wasn't up to us to question His reasons. The only difference was that Mom wasn't reacting the same way we had to what he said. In fact, her reaction was quite different from ours.

"I'm tired of never having any answers," she was saying. "How much more do we have to go through? How much more does God think we're supposed to take?"

I realized with astonishment that Mom was actually crying! I couldn't believe it! I didn't think grown-ups ever cried! Especially not Mom! Why, she hadn't even cried on the day she had to leave Kim and me at the school in Aberdeen by ourselves for the first time! At least, if she had, I never knew about it.

"We just gotta have faith," Dad said, trying to comfort her. "What else can we do? If we don't keep trusting, what do we have left to hope for?" But even he didn't sound very confident anymore.

"I can't keep believing and trusting, when there aren't any answers," Mom insisted. "It isn't fair! This isn't the way things were supposed to pan out! I just can't go through all this again!"

"God will give us strength," Dad told her. "He has always brought us through whatever we needed to face. We can't give up now."

As I continued to listen, I tried to figure out what it all meant. For the first time, I realized that our blindness was really a big deal! I had hardly ever thought about it before, and Mom and Dad never seemed to worry about it much, either. They just treated us like normal kids, and expected us to be well-behaved and get good grades in school like everybody else. I had no idea this news about Rory would be so hard for them to accept.

"Dear Lord, won't you please heal our eyes, so Mom and Dad won't be so sad?" I prayed. "They really, really want us to be able to see, and I know you can do it, if you want to."

All at once, I began to feel very sleepy. I felt all warm and soft inside, like God was right there beside me, listening to my prayer. I didn't feel scared or worried anymore. God would take care of us, like He always had before. I knew I would sleep peacefully the rest of the night, and that God would help Mom and Dad to feel better too, just as He had done with me.