Church musician keeps faith strong

By JACOB LOPEZ
Editor
Editor@sbnewspaper.com

Edit: The original story said that Abrego is pianist for First Methodist. She is actually the pianist for First Presbyterian.

Seated on the church pew, Lupita Abrego, pianist at First Presbyterian in San Benito, says she has a lot to be grateful for. Despite some of the difficulties she’s faced in life, Abrego remains happy and thankful for everything that’s come her way. Even with a rare condition that at times renders her totally blind, Abrego is truly thankful, saying “I’m glad it was me, and not someone who couldn’t handle it.”

It’s a chilly January day in San Benito at 63 degrees. By South Texas standards, the outside conditions may as well be a blizzard. Still, she is interested in sharing her story.

Now 50, Abrego started playing the piano at the age of nine.

“I started taking piano in the summer, and by Christmastime, [Dad] got us a piano,” said Abrego. He bought it through a financing program with his employer.

She continued playing through the years, even when her sister decided not to pursue it. Abrego said of her sister, “Now she says it’s because I never stopped playing the piano and never gave her a chance to practice.” It was all in jest, and she laughed. When asked if she thinks that’s true, she smiled and said, “No.”

Abrego’s studies were very different from most, according to her. “I had to practice five hours a day. … what my grandpa told me I needed to practice,” said Abrego. Her grandfathers on both parent’s sides and one of her great-grandfathers were mariachis. “So I come from a family of musicians,” she said.

Eventually, Abrego decided she wanted to play at the church. “I told my grandfather that I wanted us to pray that I … find a church to play in, because I thought it was time to give back my talent to God,” she said. Abrego first began at St. Teresa Catholic Church around 1985 when she was in her early 20s.

“You hear this so much: everything happens for a reason. You know, people say that all the time,” she explained. “Well, when I was in college, the boy that lived next to me was blind.” Her vision, at the time, was perfect. The two built a close friendship.

“I really feel that God put him in my path, so that I could learn to be blind,” said Abrego.

When Abrego was diagnosed with Harada’s eye disease at 29, there were times when she was unable to see. She found herself doing much of what she had learned from her friend in college.

Perhaps most shocking was how suddenly the disease changed her life. In 1995, Abrego and her family traveled to the beaches of South Padre Island. She distinctly remembers waking up on a Monday morning and having bloodshot eyes. At the time, she didn’t think much of it. It had been a windy day on the beach, and she figured a bit of sand had irritated her eyes.

A few days later she experienced “horrible pain.” That’s when she went to the doctor.

“They didn’t know what it was. It was so rare. It took many, many doctors to find out what it was,” she said. At the time, there were only five people in the United States who’d been diagnosed.

Doctors gave Abrego two choices: 1) Be blind and be healthy. 2) Have vision again, but have several problems because of the medications.

Unfortunately, the steroids doctors prescribed eventually took their toll.

Eventually, the very medications she was taking to help her started to cause her to lose her vision, and cause other health complications.

When doctors tried to get her off the steroids, the disease would come out of remission, “and I’d start going blind again.” It has become what is essentially a game of cat and mouse with her health and the disease.

The condition is so rare Abrego’s treatments are all experimental. When she’s planning to undergo surgery, she will pre-record her piano performances for as long as she anticipates she won’t be able to play. She is always in pain, and some days are worse than others. Even as she conducts this interview, she is in some amount of pain. It’s something that’s become part of everyday life for her.

Still, she regrets nothing. Her faith is strong, and she knows that she must continue to serve her church. When she first started to go blind, she was caring for her grandfather, and she needed her vision to help him. “There were no two ways about it,” she said.

None of that has stopped Abrego. She recently released Christmas CD, and will continue to play piano for the church.

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