The Piano...

My Aunt in PA. has a beautiful baby-grand piano. When I was a very little girl, I loved to hear her play. I would lay under it listening with such happiness. I also spent many hours playing it and composed my very first song on that piano. When I was 4, my Dad bought my Mother an old upright. It was a beautiful antique. It's dark, rich wood surface had intricate carvings of vines on it. Talk about a great sound! When Momma got frustrated and quit piano lessons, I was the one who played it most & eventually I felt it was mine. Daddy would say, "Go play me something on your piano." As I sat at that keyboard, I felt a calling on my life. I knew somehow that I wanted to do music and write songs that would express my great love for the timeless, all powerful being whom we call "God". Then my life fell apart. My parents decided to split and life as I had known it came to a screeching halt. The first thing to go was my piano- which was sold for $200. I remember standing by the window crying as I watched two men load it onto a truck. I felt like I was losing a friend. This was the first in a series of painful goodbyes. There have been many first loves in my life- that piano being one of them. Now I've had a few electronic keyboards over the years with good piano samples. Some girlfriends of mine even surprised me with a great new keyboard for my birthday last June, but nothing beats the feeling of playing a REAL piano. On Christmas day, some people showed up while we were eating brunch in our PJ's. They asked my man to come outside because they had some "Wood in the back of their truck to unload". I stealth-fully went to my room to get dressed, since I was not in any shape to greet unexpected guests. When I came out, there was a little upright piano sitting in my living room! Turns out an elderly man that I have befriended is a piano restorer and he, having just lost his wife wanted to give me one of his old pianos! It's very plain & needs to be tuned, but it's a REAL piano and I'm touched that someone cared enough to give it to me for Christmas! I hope to inherit the old Baby Grand from my Aunt someday. I would provide it a loving home where it would be played on a daily basis, but until then, I have a little upright to enjoy.