On a personal note, we had to put our dog, Minnie, to sleep yesterday--a very difficult experience. She came into our lives in 1990 just after we were married--so the two boys came into this world with mom, dad and dog--their older sister! When I knew she was slowing dying, I brought her to the piano and let her lie down quietly and listen to Chopin Waltzes and some Beethoven. She had already been deaf from vestibular disease three years ago, but I knew she could hear through the floor. When she was younger, she would come into the roon where I was teaching DMA students, and if it was good playing, she stayed. If they weren't playing well, she always got up and walked out (reminded me of my teacher, Adele Marcus--who would just leave the room when we played less than up-to-snuff!) When she left the room, the students would laugh, and I'd say, 'The dog is your best teacher!!'