Yesterday I found out that a dear friend of mine passed away. Larry Johnson was my music theory Professor at UVU. He was supposed to retire from teaching at the end of the first block of summer session at UVU this summer. While teaching his liver and kidney failed, because of this he lived the last month and a half at the hospital in Provo, UT. He had a liver transplant on June 7th and was recovering slowly, until yesterday morning when he went into cardiac arrest.
OK I'm sure that didn't seem like a tribute and your right because it wasn't. Yes, Larry was my professor at UVU but he was also my friend. A couple nights before Larry passed away I had a feeling that I needed to go see him. I never made it. So to try and still things for me I wanted to share my story of Larry's and my friendship, one that is repeated in so many others lives that he touched.
I first took his class fall 2010, it was fundamentals of Music a class that I did not need to take but for reasons that will come up later I took this class anyway. I found this class easy yet I was still learning a lot from Larry. He always had his jokes and it was a humor that could make any one's day. I failed my first test which scared the crap out of me. I knew the information extremely well and the only reason that we could figure out for why I had failed it was that something was wrong with my learning and that I needed to figure out what it was. Larry helped me to do so.
One day after his class he motioned for me to come up and talk to him. I had been going through a really hard time. Larry pulled me aside and asked if I was okay. I almost burst into tears right there but I held them back as best as I could. He told me that he was available to talk if I needed someone to talk to.
It took a few days but I finally went in to talk to him. I told him all that was going on, there were many things that where eating at me but mostly it was my job. I had been working as a cook and it had been going well up until that semester. My boss at the time had me working from the early morning to the early afternoon. Previously He told me that we would work it out once it came time for me to take my music classes. That semester the music adviser informed me that I either start getting into the program now or I will be dropped from her list of students. It was time for us to work something out at work only things had changed. I was the only girl that was working in my area and one of the newly hired men had been causing major problems for me and my boss had found favor in him. I was told that it was no longer going to be possible to work something out. I was upset to say the least, but I had been hiding it and I though I was hiding it well. Then he paused and thought for a moment then asked me A few questions. First he asked if I needed to take his class, I replied with no and then explained how I needed my music and that this was all that I could get it and was doing for now. The he asked where I went to High school. Which anyone who knows me knows that that is a load question. I had gone to four different high schools, I never stayed at any one of them long enough to notice rank I just stayed long enough to prove myself in music. I then told him that I had failed at doing so at my last high school. My Music teacher there told me that I was going no where with my music and that I had no talent, and because of it i had given up on music up til then. Larry stopped me He said told me that my last teacher was wrong. He then told me that he knew of my first three directors. These director's choirs all ranked in the top 25 in the nation. He told me that if they saw talent in me then others would as well and that this other director didn't know what talent was (haha he said it in his stuck up voice the one that sounded like he knew better then everyone else). He then told me that he couldn't let a student that wanted to teach music so bad that she would take classes that she didn't need, go along with out any help. Later I found out that he had reported the harassment that I had been going through at work. It was because of him that I quit that job and moved on to something that I love.
The next semester I had him again only it was for a class that I really needed to take. I had broken both of my feet so when he would see me he would say "there's my little cripple". He always seemed to be so understanding I had a hard time making it to class on time because of it but he never got upset with me over it. The times when I was on time to class I would normally end up on the elevator with him. He would always use this time to interview me and check up on me. He was a true friend.
In his class I was understanding what he was teaching but I couldn't get it to come out on paper. For our final project we had to write a hymn with out any non-harmonics and without braking a single rule. We were required to consult with him on it at least once. I spent so many days in his office. On my first visit going over this hymn I was feeling very discouraged. I was not doing as well as I had thought. As I got up to leave he said "there's not much left now". I thought he meant there's not much left of the semester so my reply was " I know I'm working really hard and I'll get it done." He said "No Charmaine I mean you don't have much left to change your doing really well! I'm glad to see you growing." That statement changed my life. I want to get a
masters in composition and this gave me the courage to work toward it. I met with him four more times after that first time, I wanted my hymn to be perfect. My last visit with him I had one minor thing to change, I had labeled a chord wrong I just needed to change that. When it came time to turn in our hymn's I really wanted to know what my grade was so I had him mail it to me when he was done grading it. When I got it I opened it to see that not only had I gotten and A but I had also made three mistakes which at the time made me so mad because I
had worked so hard on it.
Now I'm glad to have those markings on my paper. It reminds me how much he really cared not only about every little detail and rule but also about us. I owe him everything I wouldn't be where I am now with out him. U can't really explain how or why he changed my life he just did. I just wish that I could have thanked him just one more time for it. He would always say things like "follow me my penguins" and "it's a beautiful day...somewhere" and he was always telling us to
"PUT THE LID ON THE MARKER!" While we were at the board thinking.
Larry has found his somewhere with his beautiful day and we are still forgetting to put the lids on the marker but when we do and the marker drys out we will always think of him and on day his penguins will follow him back home.
Til we met again Larry. Rest in Peace my friend!
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