I don't remember where this piano came from but I do know this: I kept it in hopes that someday I'd have a real grand piano. They say that having a picture or some kind of visual of your dream is a good way to keep it alive. So I held on to this little golden piano.
Now, I'm parting with it. It's item # 30 on my list of "50 things to part with before I'm 50". My dream has come true. I can part with the little metal replica of what I really longed for.
Another piano I will be parting with soon is the first piano I ever played. It was my Mother's first and only piano. She bought it as a young woman with her own money. It will be item # 50 and will be re-located to the home of my Mother's first daughter-in-law. Nancy married my Mother's first-born son who was killed in a tragic farm accident when he was 26. I'm glad she can keep it.
I have to say that this has been one of the more difficult things to part with on my list, even though I thought I was ready. Yesterday, I dusted it off to get it ready for it's new home and I was a bit emotional.
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| I don't know that I was actually playing the piano in this picture. LOL! My Mother says I just wanted my picture taken! So she dressed me up and curled my hair. |
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| Playing a duet with Donna Houser - my piano teacher (on her baby grand). |
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| Preparing for my senior recital on the Yamaha at Mrs. Houser's home. |
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| My very own Yamaha baby grand. |
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| My kitten loved the piano too. She'd spend hours on the lid gazing out the window. Bad kitten! |
After suffering from debilitating depression, I decided to see a counselor who encouraged me to do something I loved to do as child. Clearly, that was ice skating. "I want you to go ice skating", she said. That's not what I expected to hear from a professional therapist. But I took her advice to heart - about a year after she suggested it. I know, I'm a little slow. What good could that possibly really do anyway, I wondered.
I had always loved ice skating, but this time, when I stepped onto the rink during a public skate session, something happened inside me. I could feel a new electricity and an idea was borne. A week later, I was at a rink in Harrisburg, at 6:00 a.m. with a new pair of skates and a determination to learn how to figure skate - for real!
In the following weeks, my husband and I sat down and decided that if I was really going to pursue the dream of doing a big Christmas concert, I should have a grand piano to practice on. He would contact our local bank and start the process of borrowing the money to buy one. We prefer not to borrow money, but for some reason, my husband was open to this idea.
We decided together how much we could afford to borrow and went on with our day. I kept going to the rink as usual and he promised to make arrangements with the bank.
One morning, about two weeks into my skating endeavor, I walked into the rink and my coach began a conversation with me.
"Hey - you're a musician - do you know of anyone who might want a grand piano?"
"Well........I might. What kind of piano?"
"It's a Yamaha, baby grand."
"What color is it?" (I had my heart set on a shiny black one just like my teacher's.)
"It's shiny black", he said in his adorable British accent.
The next morning after skating, I went to his house and played the piano. It was the perfect size for my little studio. It was everything I had wished for.
As it turns out, he and his family were moving back to England and didn't want to risk moving the piano across the ocean. This was a fact he couldn't tell me at the time when I asked why they were selling it. Due to privacy issues with a new job he was taking in the UK, he couldn't tell me anything.
The good news is, I got a piano and the bad news is, I lost my coach. But that's another story.
He took what we offered and it was such a great deal, we didn't have to borrow the money after all.
Do you have a dream?
Find a small replica or picture of that dream and keep it where you can see it often.
Don't give up on it. Enjoy the journey until it comes true. I know - that seems like an oxymoron when I've been suggesting we let go of things - but there is a time and place for holding on to something that represents a future dream or goal. Trust your instincts when evaluating your "stuff".
From the Wurlitzer, to the Yamaha at my teacher's home, to the golden piano to help me hold on to my dream, to the figure skating....it all ties together. It's the beauty of accumulating something and then being able to let go.
It's a beautiful thing to let go of old things and make room for the new.
Frances that is a wonderful story and I don't recall having seen those photos although there is a good chance that I might have taken them. Both Donna and I started out with different pianos, me with a really old upright one with cracked and missing ivory on the keys. Donna used hers for many years until I purchased the Yamaha Grand as a reward for her when she got her Master's Degree. We both independently did the research and played different pianos before we made our selection. It was a good decision. And your decision to pursue music rather than skating was also a good one.
ReplyDeleteAs the saying goes, "better late than never," I'm finally at five months later, commenting about your Piano Story blog posted in April. I feel honored to be mentioned by name and even accompanied by a photograph. I almost didn't recognize myself as a young piano teacher. You are one of those students who teachers never forget. I knew from the beginning of our relationship that you had great potential and talent. And even more importantly, music was implanted in your heart and soul. Thanks for sharing your music with the world. Donna Houser
ReplyDeleteHi Donna. Great minds must think alike because it's now October and I'm just now finding your August comment in response to my April blog. It was such a pleasure to visit with you and reminisce about the days when you were a young teacher and I was a young student. You had quite an impact on my life and I love that we are re-connecting again after all these years! Thanks so much for supporting me in my recent endeavor of the Portraits of White Winter Concerts. It means the world to me to have you and Ken there, along with your friends.
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