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Topeka pianist doesn’t let injury define him

Michael Flax, a member of Christ the King Parish in Topeka, plays the same piano he’s had since he was 9 years old. Despite an accident during his adolescence that cost him most of the fingers on his right hand, Flax continues to serve as an accompanist at Mass. LEAVEN PHOTO BY MARC ANDERSON

by Marc and Julie Anderson
mjanderson@theleaven.org

TOPEKA — It’s just one chapter in the book of his life.

That’s how Michael Flax, a member of Christ the King Parish in Topeka, recalls an accident that almost cost him the one pleasure he cherishes most — playing the piano. 

At 56, Flax has been playing the piano for 51 years. 

“I begged my parents [for lessons]. They made me wait until I was five,” Flax said. 

He was thrilled when his parents finally allowed him to give the piano a try.  

“Some people had a restaurant — a café kind of thing — and they had an old piano. They sold the café and they were moving,” he said, “and asked my dad to store their piano.

“It was this big, beautiful piano which I still have in my house.” 

Netta Curry was his first teacher. Flax admits at first he found her approach unusual.

“I didn’t get to play the piano for a very long time,” recalled Flax. “She taught me to read music and music theory first, which was a really strange approach, I thought at first. 

“But when I was ready to sit down and play, it was easy. I learned to read music before I learned to read words.”

Flax took piano lessons from Curry on a regular basis, sometimes five times a week. 

“When I was 15, she moved away,” he said. 

Flax and his parents hired another teacher who sponsored him for a musical competition and worked with him for the next two years. 

But on July 31, 1978, just before his senior year in high school, an event changed his life forever.

“I worked in a grocery store, and I was working in the meat market,” he said, “and I was just grinding hamburger. 

“I wasn’t careful enough. My hand got stuck in the machine, and by the time I got it shut off, it was too late. So, my hand was stuck.”

A doctor came from down the street and extricated Flax’s hand from the machine as carefully as possible. 

Later that day, Flax underwent surgery to suture what remained of the fingers on his right hand. 

Although he had the presence of mind, even in the moment, to ask someone to call his piano teacher and cancel his lesson, it didn’t really register that his lessons might be over for good.

“‘Oh, Michael,” he remembers the doctor telling him very gently.  ‘You’re not going to play again.’

“I guess I didn’t understand that.” 

After a week in the hospital, Flax returned home.

“I was sitting in the house when I thought I have to go and see the piano,” he said.

“And I did.

“And I did my crying there.”

Despite heavy bandages on his right hand and arm, Flax attempted to play a few chords with his left hand. Finding he was able to play a chord or two, Flax became impatient about the removal of the bandages.  

“I was in a hurry to get the wrap off, which was going to be months, but I could play a little bit,” he recalled. “As the bandages got smaller, I could play a little bit more.”

Sometime after the accident, one of his sisters-in-law’s parents celebrated their 40th anniversary. They asked him to play for their anniversary Mass.

“I had played at my church since I was 9,” he said, “but my first go-back to playing at church was for their anniversary.

“It was very sweet. It was very, very sweet. 

“And it’s a great story. 

“But it’s not my whole story. It’s one chapter of it.”

After playing for the anniversary Mass, Flax said he became more determined than ever to return to playing.

“I thought, ‘I cannot not do this.’ So, it just became natural to try,” he added.

Later, when a music teacher at school asked him to play “Silent Night” at the annual Christmas program, Flax said he found it easy. The piece is played in thirds, meaning every third key is played. 

As a result, for most of the song, the shape of the pianist’s hand stays the same.

“My hand fit just perfectly,” he said.

Since that Christmas, Flax has played the piano and organ regularly at whatever parish he has found himself, playing for Sunday Mass, as well as countless weddings and funerals. 

He’s also participated in other musical events, like fundraising concerts. Although his life turned out differently than he expected, he said the accident was the best thing that ever happened to him.

“If I could change five things about myself, this wouldn’t be one of them,” he said. “And I wouldn’t want to go back and change it. 

“I like where life has led me. I’m glad I get to participate in church.”

Ironically, the doctor who told him he would never play again later married his aunt. 

“He became my uncle,” Flax said with a smile. 

He played at their wedding.

The accident, Flax said, changed his life’s trajectory, but it didn’t define him. As a former teacher and now a principal at Santa Fe Trail Middle School in Carbondale, Flax said he tries to inspire those around him just like others helped him.

“I had a good support system to get through school,” Flax said. “And I already made up my mind [the injury] wasn’t going to dominate my life.”

As a middle school teacher and principal, he’s tried to instill the same attitude in his students and staff.

“I’ve always been kind of compassionate, but I’m far more compassionate now,” he said. “I don’t believe that someone else sets limits. I’ve set my own limits.”

And his handicap is its own opportunity, in a way.

“It’s a great example for kids,” he said. It sends the message that “because you have this, or because this is harder for you because of this, don’t let someone else determine your limits.”

“I always address it up front with kids,” Flax said. “I don’t want them to be afraid.”

Although many people find it difficult to teach middle school, Flax loves that age range.

“Middle school kids are my favorite,” he said.

Flax tries to teach students, parents, teachers and coaches the kids they see in front of them are constantly changing as their life stories unfold.

Every morning at the school assembly, he discusses a character-building trait. His staff jokingly refers to it as his “daily mini-sermon,” but Flax said it’s important to instill kindness at an early age.

“Just be kind,” Flax says he tells the kids. “You don’t know what happened before when you do something to someone else. I want them to be kind.”

He, in turn, urges his teachers to be the same to the children in their care.

“Don’t judge a kid’s story,” he advises simply, “by the chapter you walked into.”

About the author

Marc & Julie Anderson

Freelancers Marc and Julie Anderson are long-time contributors to the Leaven. Married in 1996, for several years the high school sweethearts edited The Crown, the former newspaper of Christ the King Parish in Topeka which Julie has attended since its founding in 1977. In 2000, the Leaven offered the couple their first assignment. Since then, the Andersons’ work has also been featured in a variety of other Catholic and prolife media outlets. The couple has received numerous journalism awards from the Knights of Columbus, National Right to Life and the Catholic Press Association including three for their work on “Think It’s Not Happening Near You? Think Again,” a piece about human trafficking. A lifelong Catholic, Julie graduated from Most Pure Heart of Mary Grade School and Hayden Catholic High School in Topeka. Marc was received into the Catholic Church in 1993 at St. Paul Parish – Newman Center at Wichita State University. The two hold degrees from Washburn University in Topeka. Their only son, William James, was stillborn in 1997.

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16 Comments

  • Hello guys! Michael Flax is part of the staff at my school. He never mentioned that he was ever on a newspaper. My teacher will probably think this is really cool when I tell her. He doesn’t know that I know this. I think I’m going to tell him this!

  • I am a former student of Mr. Flax before he retired from SFT last year when I graduated from the 8th grade and he was one of the best principals I’ve ever had.

  • I went to college with Michael and he would buy music, memorize it in his dorm room, and after the evening meal we would go to hear him play the piece in the piano practice room. He is so musically talented, and even though I’ve never seen him in action in a classroom or school, I am quite sure his students are well nurtured. Kindness is a great rule to play by. Best wishes Michael

  • It is wonderful to hear how God is glorified even in life changing events. I was the Chorus teacher there from 1976 – May 1978. Michael was a great young man, with a gift and passion for music, which benefited and blessed us all. We moved away but I heard of the August accident and my heart broke. It is great to hear now “the rest of the story”. The verse may be over-used but in ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭29:11‬ ‭NIV “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Praise God that Michael focused on how he still is blessed. Thanks for the inspiration.
    – Bill Bell
    ‬‬

  • I have watched you be a great influence on many lives! You are a great man and a good friend! I am glad I met you!

  • We are so fortunate to have you at CTK and performing each year at HARK. You are very special to our family

  • Michael, you have truly been an inspiration and have touched many people along the way and we thank you for this. In our small community I also remember another inspiring person who also suffered a tragic accident while in high school and went on to inspire others throughout life , Kenny Schreiber. Although Ken is no longer with us, you have both inspired and impacted so many lives in such a positive way. We thank you and we pray that God will continue to Bless others through you.

  • Michael is truly a good person. I, for one, am glad he is in our parish and that he is one of our musicians for Mass.

  • I went to college with Michael at St Mary of the Plains in Dodge City. He was one of the greatest people I knew. His attitude towar his past injury was so positive. He used to say that his hand was the true meaning of hand DE capped!! . This was a great article and a great tribute to a special guy!!

  • Thank you my grandson Mason will forever have you in his heart. That is why God allows things so He can shine through our lives for others and you have shined for him in many ways. God is your strength to let all children and adults see the hand of God and He is on the throne. Blessings to you.

  • awesome story . I never knw what had happened but he was no different then anyone else to me. Michael is an inspiration to me !!!