A Friend and Teacher

I’ve been sitting here for a while, trying to find the right words to form this post. It seems an impossible task though. How can you compress a friendship of four years into a single blog post?

Ian was my piano teacher for four years. And he was the choir master who invited me to join his choir. His was the blind man with the fantastic sense of humour. But he was so much more than all of this too.

He was the generous man who offered to give me and my sister piano lessons for free because he wanted to teach us. He was the man who gave up his time, even when he was sick to teach us every week.

Ian was the person who consoled me after a disappointing exam result, who believed I could do things, even when I wasn't so sure about it. It was he who encouraged me when I made the same mistake over and over, when I couldn’t master a piece at all.

He was the man who told funny stories about himself, like his proud story of the one time he drove a car. A dodgem car. Or the time he helped another blind man find his tram stop, without ever letting on he was blind.

Ian was the person who always made life fun for the people around him. He brought smiles, laughter and kindness wherever he went. He was a special man.

And he was more than just a choir master or teacher to me. He was also my friend.

Last Friday we said goodbye to this man forever. There won’t be any more lessons with Ian, no more jokes. He’ll never tell another funny story to me, or sit outside my exam waiting to hear the results.

Ian, I will miss you.