The May www.accordionusa.com news was released on May 12th instead of the usual first of the month. I am sure you may be wondering why this occurred. I would like to share with all of my accordion friends the special reason that this happened.

Recently, a special wonderful man, Asher Barnea, became part of my life. We are engaged and decided to go on a 16 day cruise to Europe which took place during the end of April/beginning of May.

On the cruise, there was superb entertainment including dancers, a classical pianist, violinist and even an electronic xylophone player. But…. where was the accordion?

We visited Spain, France, the Canary Islands, but did not encounter any accordion players entertaining outdoors or in restaurants…….well……. not until we reached Rome. We had spent the day on a walking tour of the city…. the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain (“Three Coins in the Fountain”) Randomly, we were walking down a side street near the fountain when, all of a sudden, not one but three accordionists were standing in an outdoor cafe playing!

All three were from Romania and the tourists were enjoying their performance. With the encouragement of Asher, I found myself playing one of the accordions with them. Music truly is a universal language because, even though, we could not understand each other too much….. we knew the same songs, had great fun and laughs…… and the people at the cafe also had a wonderful time. Photos were taken which you can see.

What does this all mean? It tells us that sometimes special moments happen at unexpected times. It means that you should be ready and open to experience new things….. and that playing the accordion brings you and everyone great joy. You do not have to be a competition winner or participant to be a winner. If you play the accordion and are willing to share your talents, no matter what the level, you can bring great happiness to others.

Thank you, Asher, for choosing this street to walk down in Rome and for encouraging me ( at a shy moment) to play the accordion on the streets of Rome!

Please make sure you read the article in Highlights about the new procedure to submit a video for possible publication in the news. Not only do we want to write about your event, but we also want to see and hear it!

If you are planning your summer vacation, consider traveling to an area where there is an accordion event. New music and, especially, new friends are waiting to meet you.

As always, send your ideas and comments to Ritabelll@aol.com