In Junior High, Emily chooses the cello because it is the instrument her dad plays.
She has the whole story worked out in her head. She will become a famous cellist, move to New York City and study at Julliard. After reading multiple reviews about her remarkable skill, her father will come to one of her performances to hear for himself how talented she is. When she begins to play, he will immediately recognize her as his daughter, and they will be reunited backstage. In an effort to make up for lost time, they will then spend the rest of their days touring the world as a father/daughter cello duo.
All these lofty dreams are ultimately shattered the first time she is offered an audition for a solo. She declines because the pressure of impressing an audience is just too much. She can't reunite with her father if she is only a mediocre cellist. No, she isn't willing to audition for a solo until she knows she's ready. Unfortunately, the moment of feeling ready never comes, and after a few years, she decides becoming a surgeon is a better option for her future. She figures there still might be an opportunity to reunite with her father some day; she'll just have to find a way to save his life.
Because Emily genuinely enjoys playing the cello, she keeps up with her lessons. She plays in the orchestra all through high school and even for a few years in undergrad. In med school, however, music takes a back seat to her studies and the cello finds a permanent home under her bed. The instrument remains mostly forgotten until, during her intern year at Denver Memorial, Will Collins discovers her secret on her birthday and pressures her into finally performing solo for an audience of work friends and colleagues.
This first solo performance turns out to be the catalyst in helping Dr. Micah Barnes finally realize he is falling in love with Emily Owens. It's the most confident he has ever seen her outside of the OR, and he is enchanted. As she loses herself in the music, he loses himself in watching her. He loves the way her nimble fingers move up and down the finger board, the long, sweeping movements of her bowing arm, and the relaxed, confident smile on her face as she lets the music carry her away. Despite his best efforts, this image of Emily and her cello haunts him over the next several weeks until he is finally able to admit to himself that he is dating the wrong woman.
Micah doesn't ever get around to telling Emily that classical music is something they have in common. Instead, it comes up many months later in a conversation between Emily and his mother. There is very little that delights Joyce more than sharing stories about Little Micah Mouse with Emily, however, she is not prepared for the reaction she gets after mentioning her son's piano lessons.
"Wait, Micah took piano lessons?"
"From the age of six, all the way through college. Haven't you heard him play?"
"No! He's never even mentioned it!"
That evening, after much cajoling, the three find themselves gathered around a piano, and Micah plays several pieces from memory as Joyce and Emily listen. Emily notes Micah is almost a different person at the keyboard. He seems more relaxed and whole than she has ever seen him outside the OR. As his fingers move nimbly across the keys, Emily finds her own tensions from the day melting away. It's intoxicating, and Emily suddenly knows she'd be happy to listen to him play piano for the rest of her life.
After that, music becomes a regular part of their lives. They play to relax. They play to escape. They play for themselves. They play for each other. And, after Joyce insists on hearing a piano/cello duet, they sometimes play together.
In Junior High, Emily and Micah's daughter picks the cello because she thinks it is romantic.
She has the whole story worked out in her head. She wants to be a soloist. Being famous doesn't matter, but she wants to be good enough to have boys look at her the way her dad looks at her mom. The story of the birthday party cello performance has been her favorite since she was a little girl, and so she jumps at the first chance to perform a solo in a recital. Although nervous at first, the experience is not so scary when she spots her parents sitting in the front row and suddenly knows they will be proud of her no matter what happens.
Years later, as they watch their daughter, now a senior in high school, prepare to play a featured cello solo with the orchestra, Micah reaches for Emily's hand. "Like mother, like daughter" he whispers proudly in her ear. Emily just smiles at him as the music begins.
The truth is, the full version of the story is as much about the importance of love and family as it is about musical talent.