Cecil loved his accordion. He tried other instruments and never felt comfortable with them. But this one he seemed to meld with. He actually got a full scholarship to Oberlin College to study the intricacies of this wondrous instrument. Eventually he was accepted into the Boston Pops Symphony, the first accordion player to be so honored.
He worked out at the gym to strengthen his back and shoulder so he could play with more verve. In five years he never missed a performance.
So it was with shock and disbelief that he received the news that because of budget cutbacks his contract would not be renewed. Cecil was in tears. How would he pay his rent? All he knew was his instrument. He wound up moving back in with his parents living in Weehawken, NJ.
He began drinking, sleeping late, putting on weight and generally falling into slovenliness. He cut himself off from friends and family.
One day he decided he had to pull himself together. After a month of cold turkey, and renewed practice, he got on a bus to the city and stationed himself in parks, accompanying laid off opera singers after the NYC Opera had gone bankrupt.
Authorities, after listening to this collaboration, decided to pay them to keep performing, calculating that the cacophony of noise would keep terrorists at bay.
Cecil wasn't totally happy with this situation, but at least he was widening his audience. Sometimes he even takes requests.
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