We realized it was a celebration when Mom ordered tiramisu. We were the type of family who cooked at home unless it was someone's birthday. I was a senior in high school the first time I went to The Olive Garden. When we did visit restaurants, we skipped appetizers and desserts and stuck to the basics: water and a main corse.

Music is just as much about the absence of sound as it is about the notes that ring out. These ears and eyes and brains were not made to experience sustained tasting, seeing, or hearing. Our instincts force us to blink, to rest, to break.