Lizz Anderson doing what she loves (photo: MusicalMe, Inc.)
If you had told Lizz Hodgin the aspiring opera singer, temporary New Yorker, and singing waitress that one day in the not too distant future she would be Lizz Anderson, mother of Daniel, owner of one of the largest Music Together centers in the world, she might not have believed you.
But that's what being a mom can do to you.
"Daniel has completely changed my life, and because of him, and who he is, I feel that our whole community has been enriched," Lizz says emphatically.
The emphasis comes both from the natural mother-love that anyone can have as well as from the special circumstances of Daniel's birth. He is a boy with Down Syndrome, and he has a mother who never contemplated giving up on him.
Over ninety percent of couples who test for Down Syndrome during pregnancy opt to abort. Lizz chose not to make that choice. "I am grateful I didn't do any prenatal testing," she says. "That news came after I already was completely in love with my child. I already had that bonding."
With the energy she had exhibited since she sang until the eighth month of pregnancy -- "I was singing Vissi d'arte from Tosca and it has this beautiful high note toward the end, and I hit this high note, and my baby kicked me really hard in the gut and I went Wahh! -- Lizz attacked the problem of having a child with Down Syndrome with gusto.
She was led to Music Together by a friend, who recommended it as a way to stimulate Daniel's learning and create musical bonding between mother and child. "Here I was a person with a degree in theater, had taken years of voice lessons, I had my Equity card, I'd lived in Manhattan for five years," Lizz explains. "Here I was with this little baby, and I had no idea how to play musically with him."
MusicalMe's motto (photo: MusicalMe, Inc.)
Music Together was developed by researchers at Princeton University who wanted to create an early childhood music education program based on the studies that showed that young children learn differently than older children and adults. The program would be based on the idea that children's musical growth "is best achieved in a playful, developmentally appropriate, non-performance-oriented learning environment that is musically rich yet immediately accessible to the child's -- and the adult's! -- participation."
Lizz says that the class hit her with a special force when she saw how it benefited Daniel. "I think I have a lot of passion because of what was happening in my home," she says. Daniel responded so well to Music Together that Lizz could see him developing well beyond what was expected of him.
Lizz says that the early years of having a child with special needs and being a single mother were very difficult. So difficult at first that she depended on welfare to make it through a time. "That was a huge gift for me and for Daniel," she says. Then she took part-time jobs -- up to five at a time -- to make ends meet while she was starting her business.
"Up until two years ago I was a single mom, and I did it all on my own," Anderson remembers. "And it was really hard. But like most moms, I got really creative. I bartered for childcare. I would go in and do Music Together classes there. The daycare providers saw what a huge difference it made and so I didn't have to pay for childcare."
Once Daniel started public school, where he is now in high school attending special education classes, Lizz created the pattern to her days that allowed her to run her business while still raising her son. "Put him on the bus WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK until I have to get Daniel off the bus. Put him in front of the screen for an hour so I could have some time for WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK then we'd be together. After Daniel went to bed, it was more WORK WORK WORK!"
The result was MusicalMe, Inc., a program running Music Together classes in Santa Cruz and Santa Clara Counties.
Lizz's success, and the success of her business, was fast and sustained. "When I started the Music Together program, I had no idea where it was going to go," she says. "I had no idea how people were going to respond to it."
Her business has not only been successful, but has sustained the lives of families and teachers. Music Together families start with one child and stay with the program for all their children. Many of MusicalMe's teachers have been with the program for years.
Anderson says that the years have not dulled her enthusiasm for the job. "I'm in that classroom and I'm more excited than the kids are," she says of the first week of classes. "It's ridiculous!"
She also feels that having her son in her life is a gift. "So many people when they see Daniel something inside them softens," she says.
Lizz expresses the feeling that parents of children with Down Syndrome often have. "My child wakes up happy; when he comes home, has the biggest smile," she explains. "He brings incredible joy into my life."
And in kind, Lizz Anderson passes that joy on to children and parents, who are all her students and her teachers.
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