in the family, I believe the birth of Mother and Dad's seventh child, my sister Ida, must have brought great joy and happiness to her parents. She was a beautiful baby with dark-brown eyes and a beautiful complexion. She had dark-brown curly hair that Mother kept in ringlets during her childhood. They chose the name Ida since Charles and Mary both had a sister by that name (Ida Marriott Creamer and Ida Farley Ferrin) and added Virginia as a second name. Ida Virginia Marriott was affectionately called various names by her father such as "Ginger, Black-eyed-Pick-a-Pie, and Pansy". At the early age of three, her parents realized that their daughter was endowed with a special talent in music. Little did they suspect that the talents of this child would bring joy to her parents, family, relatives and friends throughout her life-time. Ida would stand on her tiptoes to reach the keys of the piano. Soon she was playing tunes she would hear played on instruments or from records. She was the center of attraction at the gatherings of relatives. You see, she had this rare God-given talent of being able to play by ear. Later, she was given piano lessons for a short period of time. Her teacher would play the next lesson for Ida to hear, and on returning home, Ida could play perfectly the entire assignment for the next week. Supposing her to be reading by notes, the teacher never realized that Ida was playing by ear until Ida played one of her pieces perfectly in an entirely different key. During her high school years, she entertained her classmates daily in the gymnasiumplaying requests for some while others danced to her music. After graduating from high school, she worked at the Mountain Bell Telephone Company in order to fulfill a dream of owning a baby grand piano. Ida was told by Professor Roland Parry at Weber College that she had perfect pitchindeed a rarity." Music in the Home As soon as I could reach the family piano, I was playing simple tunes. This began a career of music that has lasted throughout my entire life. My oldest brother, Horace, loved to play records particularly at Christmas time. I remember a cylinder phonograph with thick black records and recall some of the tunes: "When Johnny goes Over the Top", "Whispering Hope", (Grandfather Farley's favorite) and "Dardenella". The thrill of a stocking full of nuts, an orange or a banana, and a few pieces of candy were thrilling gifts at Christmas, but the most wonderful part was the special spirit of this beautiful day that our parents had taught us to respect. Christmas was a magical day to my young mind. To hear Christmas hymns and songs and see a picture of Santa Clause in a magazine or paper was a joy. Childhood In the summer, I loved to play in a sandboxmaking castles with a moat for water and landscaping with ferns and flowers. I liked to play with dolls and make doll clothes on mother's sewing machine. Another enjoyable pastime was constructing a miniature stage from a cardboard box with various settings and figures, a drawn curtain, furniture and lights, wax paper for windows and walls from scraps of wallpaper and construction paper. I remember