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Indeed, one area in Lee’s life in which his focus could not be sidetracked was his dream of becoming a concert pianist. Even though Lee had been taking lessons for years on his family’s upright piano, the baby grand made him feel one step closer to his goal. He certainly knew it was a far-fetched dream and so he told only a very few people. If more people had known, they would have certainly encouraged him to become something “more realistic,” like a plumber or an electrician. They always encourage the Attention Deficit kids to go into the trades. “Why not take welding?” he could hear his school counselor say. “You’re more of a ‘hands on’ learner, I think.” Bah!

In a rare high school moment of honesty, Lee, frustrated, shared his dream with another ADHD student in his welding class.

“What’s that,” said the student, “a concert penis? You want to be a penis?”

Placing the emphasis on the “i” instead of the “a” sound, which was the more popular way of pronouncing “pianist” in those days, the word sounded a lot like “penis.” Lee’s face turned red with embarrassment. He didn’t want to be a penis. From that point on his desire to become a famous pianist diminished exponentially with each passing day. It’s sad that such a silly thing could alter a person’s direction so drastically. Within the week Lee was dancing, Tom Hanks-style, on his legless piano. It became painfully out of tune.