Amy Jo's Visit

Sometimes a single day has the capacity to impact the entire course of your life. One of those days for me was Mother's Day 1998. I was about to graduate from high school and my parents and I made the drive to Wichita, Kansas to hear the horn studio recital at Wichita State University. From this trip, I decided that:

1. I would be attending Wichita State in the Fall, and
2. I was going to marry Robert Zajkowski.

I announced the latter to my parents immediately following the horn recital while we had dinner at the Applebee's on Rock Road. 

Fast forward almost 15 years (!!!) later. Our horn professor from Wichita State, Amy Jo, was in Tampa this past week subbing with the orchestra and we were able to get together with her 3 different times. We had  SO much fun! Amy Jo was super sweet and offered to babysit Abigail for us on Friday night so that Robert and I could go out on a date. We've been meaning to try a restaurant on Harbour Island -- Cafe Dufrain --  so we headed there. We had a lovely meal and evening. (Surprisingly, I didn't take any pictures of the food. Our favorite was an appetizer of kind of a deconstructed French onion soup: dumplings filled with onion, broth, and cheese that you dipped into crouton crumbles. Very creative and tasty.)

While we wined and dined, Amy Jo and Abby were partying it up back at the house. Amy Jo documented the evening. 

They practiced horn:

They enjoyed a beer. (Ha!)

They felt a little guilty about the beer and went to read Baby's First Bible.

They read some Eric Carle books.

They fixed their hair and got all dolled up.

They did a little baby yoga.

And then, sadly, it was bed time. Amy Jo says Cora is "playing the cello." Too funny!

As you might imagine, Amy Jo was pretty worn out.

Amy Jo is definitely Abby's new BFF. We were able to get together one last time today before she flew back home. We went for a walk along the St. Pete pier and checked out the pelicans.

It's a very special thing when your teacher becomes your friend. As a student, I was in complete awe of Amy Jo as a horn player. She has inspired me from that first meeting in May 1998 to today. Occasionally I hear myself speaking her words when I am teaching my own students. I continue to be in awe of her as a musician, but now I find myself admiring her perhaps even more for the wonderful mother and kind person that she is.

Thanks for the super fun visit, Amy Jo, and we hope to see you again soon!