Ah - so you are one of the folks who enjoys detail.  Well, seems I always have something to say, so I'm happy to share more details with you here.

Basically, I have created this website as a way of communicating with those who may be interested in my creative endeavors over the years.  Painting is my main outlet these days, but I've always wanted to find a way to share my music.  I'm excited that I am close to realizing that dream - and if YOU are the only person who ever takes advantage of the site and listens to my music - then I will be glad I created the site.  Why?  Because to me it is all about communication. . . . sharing my life with another human soul.

Now - here are the details about my life:

I was born in 1947 to Carol and Walt Beglau.  At the time they were living in Chicago, Illinois, where they ran a little deli.  As a child I loved to listen to my Dad's stories about his store.  I remember him telling about a little boy who came in to purchase an ice cream cone for 5 cents.  Dad decided this would be a good way to advertise the deli, so he kept adding scoops to the cone until it wouldn't hold any more.  He said the child's eyes kept getting bigger and bigger.  Then my Dad told him it was free, and that he just wanted him to tell anyone who asked where he had gotten the cone.

When I was one year old, my parents moved to Watertown, South Dakota.  Ah, Watertown . . . how I loved it there!  I soon was joined by four siblings, two sisters and two brothers.  I turned 6 three days after the birth of my youngest brother.  My interest in creative pursuits began in Watertown.  One of my favorite memories is of one evening when I was lying on the floor coloring.  My Dad got down on the floor with me and showed me how to outline each section of a drawing and then go back and fill it in.  I was SO happy for him to be coloring with me.  I also remember a woman at church who was an artist.  She would draw for us as she told us Bible stories.  I was fascinated with her.

Our family was a musical family, as my mother loved music.  She directed the children's choir at our church so we were all involved in choir as soon as we were able.  Our family also sang when we were riding in the car.  It was my mom's method of keeping us occupied so we wouldn't drive her nuts in the car! I began taking piano lessons at the age of 5.  I enjoyed the music but didn't much appreciate my teacher's habit of swatting my hands with a ruler when I made mistake. 

When I was 9, my family moved to Fort Worth, Texas.  It was a traumatic move for me, as it meant leaving my beloved grandmother behind.  Then four years later we moved to Austin, Texas, which is where I attended high school.  Choir at McCallum high school was my main social outlet while in high school and is where I met my husband.  We began dating when I was 15.  I was chosen for All State Choir all three years that I was in high school.  I took one semester of art, and considered switching from choir to art, but my mother convinced me that music was the path for me.

Church was also very important in our family, and a major musical influence on my life. In addition to singing in the children's choir my mother directed, I began singing in the adult choir with my mother once I was in my teens. I sang my first solo when I was 14, and remember being absolutely petrified.  My knees were shaking the whole time.  I wouldn't trade for those experiences, though; because now I really enjoy getting a chance to sing for folks.

One of my favorite memories of my family life is the family devotions we had every night.  It was in these sessions that I came to have a firm belief that God loved me, and wanted the best for me.  I was also blessed over the years to have a number of Bible School teachers who loved God deeply, and were carriers of God's love for me. 

At the age of 17 I headed for Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, to major in music.  What a shock to discover that I was ill prepared!  Performance was not a problem, but I was sorely lacking in an understanding of music theory and found the classwork challenging.  My junior year was spent abroad as I studied at Schiller International University.  I was at their campus in a little German village called Kleiningersheim, just outside of Stuttgart.  It was a fascinating year, and had a great impact on my developing world view.  While there I studied French, German and Italian and had the opportunity to study voice at The Music University in Stuttgart.  One of the highlights of the year was the lead role in an operetta by Mozart titled Bastien und Bastienne. 

The other highlight of the year was that once again I could be near my high school sweetheart, Tom Wykes.  Tom and I married in 1968 and it was our plan for me to finish college after he served his time in the army and then put him through school.  Instead we became the proud parents of our first child, Walt, in 1969. I set aside my plans for college because I wanted to be a full time mom

After Tom was discharged from the army in 1969, we returned to Austin, Texas.  In 1971 we moved to Grand Prairie, Texas, and have been here ever since.  Our daughter Jennifer was born in 1973 and our son Eric arrived in 1979.  As a homemaker I was involved in many activities at our church and mainly exercised my creativity in the form of crafts, especially crochet.  I also began to write my own songs.  I was very influenced by a German song cycle I had performed in college, Schumann's Frauenliebe und Leben (A Woman's Love and Life).  I figured if Schumann could write songs about a woman's life, so could I.  Thus my songs were love songs to my God, to my children, to my husband. 

To Be Continued . . .