Before I ended my first phone conversation with my birth mother Maya 5 years ago, my partner Margie had located my birth father.  With nothing more than his name (which I jotted down on a sticky note as I chatted with Maya) and the knowledge that he had music in his bones, Margie commandeered the internet to do her bidding in a way that would have made Henry Higgins’ head spin.  In short order I knew the street where he lived and I was talking to Donald, my biological father.

A recently retired music professor from a university in Tennessee, I learned that Donald was from a large Italian family who moved to the United States before he was born.  Donald sent me 2 CDs he had recorded.  On the inside jacket of one, I discovered that Donald had been a scholarship student at Juilliard, had performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and at Carnegie Hall, and had hosted a weekly one hour show on public radio.

I have yet to meet Donald, his wife Diane and their talented son who is a graduating high school senior.  But we have exchanged many emails and video links.  It seems my half-brother Michael got the full benefit of Donald’s music genes.  It is impossible to watch Michael perform without smiling ear to ear.  Need a smile?