As soon as I could write, it seems I was already writing poetry and stories. I would write little poems as Christmas gifts for my six siblings as well as for mom and dad. In elementary school, I’d come home to find my older brother Peter practicing the piano – playing classical pieces by Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Schubert, Rachmaninoff etc. These times were like meditations for me and I would sit there sometimes for hours before and after dinner and listen. The beautifully haunting quality of these classical pieces seeped into my soul forever.
