Our story is a tale of providence, patience and, of course, piano. That's right, Rosita and I are both professional pianists. We met in the piano practice rooms at the Juilliard School. Rosita had left her music in the practice room while she went to get a bowl of soup. Well, after pacing the hall for thirty minutes in order to find a practice room I decided to seize the opportunity. Thus, upon Rosita's return she was greeted by a rousing rendition of the Dutilluex -Chorale and Variations (Not exactly the most romantic piece of 20th century piano literature). After an awkward moment, I hastily offered her back the room and ran to my next class. Neither of us thought too much about it.
At the moment I was preparing for my first round Doctoral auditions. Two weeks later I was in Baltimore preparing for my audition at the Peabody School. The Peabody School has a beautiful grand staircase as you can see on the left. That was when I saw her. Or, maybe she saw me. Or, we saw each other. I felt something special even though I didn't know what at the time.
At the time Rosita was especially discerning God's plan for her life and was not particularly interested in a relationship. So, when I asked her if she wanted to come with a group of friends and grab something she turned to say 'no' and somehow 'yes' came out (I remember the confused look on her face afterward). It also happened that we needed to take the same bus home to New York that night. As a result, we ended up talking and sharing stories for hours. (Mysteriously the song 'Til there was You' from the Music Man was stuck in Rosita's head.)
Back in New York we went many times for lunch together, we went to the premier of a couple of movies, and most of all, we began to knew each other by engaging each other in thoughtful and spiritual conversations. I came to knew her more deeply and she came to know me. When I finished my Masters at the end of the term I moved to Charleston and Rosita was living and studying between Spain, Peru and New York so our communication slid after a while. However, the friendship between us remained strong and even though we were far apart we kept praying for each other and enjoying the occasional emails and phone calls. It was a good thing that neither of us decided to go to any of the Doctorate programs. I went back to New York
The next spring, the time for Doctorate auditions had arrived once again. This time we were both determined to land full scholarships at our desired school. We met again on February 14th (Valentine's Day) at the Eastman Doctorate auditions. Next, we met in Chicago at the Northwestern auditions and finally in New York for the Juilliard Doctoral auditions. As we left from that audition and we were preparing to say goodbye Rosita started to cry. I felt sad to leave her as well. We both knew that it was the last audition and the last opportunity for us to be together. After some hot cocoa and marsh mellows we were better spirits and decided that she should come down and stay with my family for a few days while she went to the wedding of her friend Sarah in St. Augustine.
At my house in Florida we played duets and went on walks in the woods with my little brother and sister. I felt very fortunate that she was able to come to my house and that we were able to spend time together. After the wedding in St. Augustine we did not communicate very much that summer and both of us thought that, once again, we would just remain good friends. Rosita was going to be studying in Boston and I had decided on studying for the Doctorate at the University of Miami.
When the time came for me to find housing I thought I would call Rosita. I knew that she had lived in Miami before and maybe she could suggest a place where I could live. I knew nothing about Miami. While on the phone we arranged to take the apartment hunting trip together to Miami. We found a nice place for me to live close to the University. However, the most important thing is that we had the opportunity to see each other again.
In Miami it was starting to dawn on me that this was the person that I wanted to spend my life with. She is beautiful in mind and lovely in appearance. But, most importantly, she is committed to the Christian faith. From Proverbs: "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies." I have found this person in Rosita and she has become the treasure of my life.
