Mothers' measure of music

Sharing a pair of bongos in the front pew of St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church, 6-year-old Delante and his 3-year-old brother, Andrew, are taking turns banging out a rhythm.

Unfortunately, it's not the one their mother is playing.

Ramona Bailey is accustomed to that by now. Although she's been the pianist at St. James only a few months, she's been making music with family her whole life.

She credits the devotion to her mother, Altha Robinson.

"We've always had a piano in the house. I've always tinkered with it," Bailey said. "She really inspired me. I love it because of the way she did it -- it just made me feel like, 'Wow, I want to do that.' *... But everybody talks about how they know my mother: They say if she had been anywhere else, she would be on Broadway."

Ramona Bailey plays the piano for the opening hymn May 3 at St. James AME Church in Cape Girardeau. (Fred Lynch)

Robinson began playing the piano at age 10, after convincing her own mother it wasn't a fad. Decades later, she's showing her granddaughter, Peighton, the basic chords.

"My son [Tommy Jr.] has five kids, and Ramona has three. All of them are pretty musical; they all sing in their different church choirs. They don't all go to the same church, but they're all involved in their choirs *... it's just a family affair, I guess you might call it," Robinson said.

Peighton was the youngest choir member singing above the communion table at a recent Sunday service.

Between her range and the vibrato she contributed to the group, it was difficult to believe she's a seventh-grader.

Her style mirrored her mother's ease while playing. As she swayed to the rhythm, she barely glanced at the words she was singing, a gospel veteran at age 13.

"Sometimes (my family's musical ability) does kind of surprise me, but then I have to stop and think, 'Well, they got it honest,' so I'm just glad they really enjoy it and weren't pushed into it," Robinson said.

Besides providing a creative outlet for her family to come together, the church is the basis for Robinson's advice when starting a new family.

"Well, the best advice I think I can give from my own personal experience is to try and make sure that they are introduced to church at a young age," she said. "That was very important in my life. *... And then encourage them to be the best they can be.

"Show an example in front of them, because they do watch what we do as much as what we say. You can't just tell them what is the right thing to do; you also have to show them."

Whether it was a coincidence or just the way she was raised, when asked the same questions, Bailey's answers were identical.

"Devote, I would say, 80 percent of your time to your kids, because they're not going to stay kids forever. They're going to grow up, and they're going to remember more of what you do than what you say," Bailey said.

Then, with a wide grin, she agreed, you should probably give 10 percent to your husband, and keep the last 10 percent for yourself.

"Take time for yourself, but definitely devote time to your kids," she reiterated.

Biologically, Robinson has her two children, but after more than 25 years of teaching, her daughter said she believes she's mothered many more. Robinson taught elementary school in the Cape Girardeau public school system, working with children from kindergarten to sixth grade.

"They all just really loved her, and that makes me feel good that all the lives she really touched, she probably doesn't even know," Bailey said. "She always wanted a lot of children, but she only had me and my brother, from complications she couldn't have anymore after me, and I was like, 'Mom, you don't know how many kids you have.'"

Being a student in her mother's class, Bailey remembers the way her mom got to know her students personally, and the time she took to help them succeed. And while Bailey couldn't put into words exactly how she hopes to be like her mother one day, it's obvious from speaking with her: Her mother's love, kindness and devotion are clear the minute she starts talking about her children.

smaue@semissourian.com

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