WHEATON, IL — My name is Dorothea Haines, I am sixty-three years old, and I have been standing at the left side of the upright piano at Cornerstone Bible Church every Sunday morning since the spring of 2005, and I would like to take this opportunity to say a few things.

I was recruited by our then-pianist, Margaret Ellison, who described the role as “just standing there for a minute.” Margaret retired in 2014. I was not reassigned. Our current pianist, Gerald Foss, has never once acknowledged my presence verbally, though he does nod at the page with his chin when the turn is approaching, which I have come to understand as intimacy.

In twenty-one years I have turned approximately 11,340 pages. I have never turned the wrong one. I turned correctly through the blizzard of February 2011, the morning the sanctuary lost heat in January 2019, and the Sunday our senior pastor preached for sixty-four minutes and Gerald played three additional verses of “Just As I Am” as a form of protest.

“The music does not pause for recognition. Neither do I.”

“Dorothea is a real asset,” said worship committee chair Ron Bellamy, 58, when reached for comment. He then asked who Dorothea was. I have served on Ron’s left for six years.

I am not looking for applause. I am looking for a chair. I have been standing since 2005. Gerald is seated. Gerald has always been seated.

The music does not play itself. The pages do not turn themselves. I do not know who I am apart from this, and I have made peace with that, mostly.

At press time, Gerald had begun “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” without making eye contact, which is how Gerald says thank you.