If she had not told me, tonight might never have happened.

What I am talking about was the conversation I had with Cynthia Scheinert in 2003, former fifth grade home room teacher of Joey Fala, who told me about his fascination, no, his obsession with the organ so much that every school assignment, whether it was math, or social studies, or science, or creative writing, somehow had the organ in it.

“You have got to do something for Joey! He’s driving his parents crazy asking for organ lessons!”

That led to seven years of organ lessons with me before Joey headed off to study architecture in college. After obtaining his master’s degree in architecture he then won a full scholarship at Yale and obtained a master’s degree in organ performance. That in turn led to an Organ Scholar position at Duke University where he met Sarah Jones, whom he married in 2019. Now Joey has a full time director of music/organist position at University Presbyterian Church in Chapel Hill, NC and serves as the carillonneur at Duke University.

So tonight was a joyful reunion with the four of us, Cindy Scheinert, Joey Fala, Sarah Jones Fala and myself … and Joey and Sarah cooked dinner in my kitchen! They made a French salmon with lentils plus a salad, and Sarah had baked baklava for dessert. Delicious! It was the first time since my husband died that anyone else had cooked in the kitchen.

I showed Sarah the book I had made for Joey for his high school graduation. She said it was a continuation of all the baby photos Joey’s parents had been showing her since coming to Hawaii last weekend! (By the way, I had to take time out to update my original post, “The Boy Who Loved the Organ.” Go back and reread all the juicy details of Joey’s obsession with the organ!)

Here are a couple of pictures from the book:

I have to share this recent email I received from Nohea Chang, who was another of Joey’s fifth grade teachers. About Joey and Cindy Scheinert, she wrote:

I clearly remember Joey Fala and his quest for playing the pipe organ.  I remember we did a field trip once, to the church by Punahou School and we got to see the workings of the Pipe Organ…wow!  It was so large, and loud,and out of this world!!!

A  bit of background about Joey.  I knew him at Iolani School as a quiet and nice 5th grader who was obsessed w/ the pipe organ. He wanted to play the organ. He wanted to do anything he could that was related to the pipe organ.  This is not the normal obsession of a 5th grader. Whenever he had a choice of topic for research or a short story or poem, anything, it would be about the pipe organ.  Kids all knew this…Joey was crazy about pipe organs.

Eventually, his language arts teacher, Cindy Scheinert,  approached Mrs. Katherine Crosier about teaching Joey to play the pipe organ.  He had been taking piano lessons, however, this was a luxury and organ lessons were not even considered as an extra.   Mrs. Crosier played the organ for chapel service on Friday mornings.  She was hesitant about taking in a such a young student…if any.  She checked with Mrs. Chun, the music teacher, who spoke well of Joey’s musical abilities and his seriousness about the organ.  Mrs. Crosier then spoke to her husband who was the expert on the organ.  He welcomed the opportunity to bring in a young person…as not many young people take such an interest in the pipe organ.   The rest is history. The connections and support  these teachers, adults and his parents made to give Joey a chance have proven to be more than fruitful.

Ask any of Joey’s classmates what they think of when they think of Joey,  it will be the pipe organ!  I think of a great kid who had a dream and was not afraid to let others know about it.  “Others”  listened and helped to provide the opportunity for this young man to learn and develop his talent. 

Joey and Sarah have recently purchased a home in Chapel Hill, NC and will be welcoming a new pipe organ! (Did I get you excited?! ) Sarah continues her studies in the Duke Divinity School and will graduate next year.

It’s a fairy tale with a real life “happily ever after.”