A man named Victor is one of the wonderful people we met on our mission trip to Mexico this past week. He is an accountant, a husband, father and grandfather. I had met him and his wife on the first day in El Cercado, and had noticed his peculiar hands, but did not think anything about it. Until the last night there, when one of my adult piano students, Stephanie told me that he was going to play the piano for her. I really went up to the piano just to translate and ended up asking my own questions.
Victor was born with deformed hands. Actually when he was born his hands were completely shut and he has been able to open them as much as you see here in this picture. He told us that he had always loved music and when the opportunity arose in school to learn to read music he was the first in line. After that he started reading notes from his teacher's score and would memorize everything. Later in life when he owned a hymnal he started to memorize the hymns and has committed 88 hymns to memory.
Look at his hands. This is exactly what they look like all the time. He plays the piano with the side of his right hand and the middle finger of his left hand. That's it.
And he is happy to do it. He told me that his deformity has never been an obstacle to the things he wants to do.
He should be an inspiration to all of us. No more excuses!
