I watch her fingers hit the keys, both of her hands spread wide as she hits white keys, black keys, sometimes one, sometimes three. She told me she was playing a song, "It's called Fur Elise," she said, looking over at me and smiling. I was only 5 or 6 at the time. But i knew then that i wanted to play very well one day. "My nails are too long," she said, laughing. She looks at her fingers, and stares at her gel nails that she got put on. "I don't really play anymore anyways," She told me. I nodded in response, too mesmerized with the piano to really focus on anything else. I took my hand and let it glide over the keys. I took my finger and pressed one. The sound soft, beautiful. The sound waves traveled the whole room, filling it with the warmth of this note. "Middle C," she said. I smiled. I told her to play again, and she did. The noise swallowing the room, it was magical, like an angel coming down from the sky. "Do you want to learn how to play, Gianna?" she asked me, "Yes." I responded simply. She smiled, grabbed my hand, and my sister and i walked out of the room and back into the real world.

I remember those moments more than anything else. My childhood memories are consumed by my sister, and all of the different ways she introduced me to music. One day she brought a CD over and said, "There's this new singer i really like, her name is Alicia Keys, this is her first single." She pressed play, and "Fallin'" started playing. I automatically fell in love with it. At this time, i was about 7 years old. I had already found a love for singing, by singing around the house all the time. Dancing and singing to "Genie In A Bottle" by Christina Aguilera, or fainting at the sight of the Backstreet boys. And by the time i was 7, i was already taking 2 years of piano lessons. But when i heard this song, i realized that i could put both of them together. I could sing AND play piano at the same time. It was a crazy realization. And ever since then, Alicia has been my idol.

I used to want to copy everything my sister did. I looked up to her like she was the smartest, most beautiful person in the world, because i really thought she was. She had long dark hair, big brown eyes, the whitest smile. She always wore hoops, too. That was her thing, and now that's my thing. You'll never see me without hoops in my ears.

Anyways, she also introduced me to different kinds of music. She would play rap music for me, she would play Alicia, she would play Destiny's Child, she would play everything you could imagine. We listened as we played with dolls, or if my dad was cooking on the barbecue, we would play outside with the music blasting by our mini blow up pool, since we didn't have one. We would chase each other around the house, or she would be sitting at the computer with the volume turned up all the way as i played with her hair. These are the moments i cherish most.

She came over again one day, it was fun, and then we said our goodbyes. I honestly don't remember the last time i ever saw her.

It was summertime. August 27th. My cousins were over that day, and they were sleeping over. So it was a good day all around. We go to sleep. I wake up the next morning and walk up the stairs from the basement, where we all begged to sleep. And i saw my parents and aunt huddled in a circle, crying. "What's wrong?" I asked. "Go back downstairs, sweetie." my aunt said gently. I looked over at my father, and he was crying. I had never once in my life, and even to this day, ever seen him cry except for at that moment. We stayed down there for hours, wondering what could have happened. Soon enough, my parents called me up to their room. I immediately started crying, "Can someone tell me what's wrong?" i said through tears. And they told me.

Whenever i think of her, i always turn on Alicia Keys. I listen to the music and think of her face, and listening to music with her. I feel her soft hair that i used to hold in between my fingers. I know then that she is with me, and that's all that matters. And the only person i can thank for inspiring me was my sister.