Dad grew up on a farm. He got out of milking the cows because his mom was worried about him hurting his piano hands. He became very good at playing the piano :-) It was that talent that put him in a position to fall in love with and marry my mom. The story is that Dad took mom to a fireside one day and afterwards he was asked to accompany the choir. My mom was a singer. She decided to sit in with the choir while she waited for dad, even though it wasn’t her regular congregation. The choir director spotted talent and asked mom to sing the solo. Mom told her she wasn’t a member of their congregation, she had just come with my dad. The choir director looked at dad and told him he would bring mom each week to choir. Mom didn't know if dad wanted to bring her each week and dad didn't know if mom wanted to come. The choir director was very forceful though and and these two shy kids couldn't say no :-) Dad later said it was during those weekly choir dates that he fell in love with mom. He loved to hear mom sing and would accompany her for the next 60 years. So when they ran across a really nice baby grand piano a few years after they were married it was an easy decision to scrape up their pennies and buy it. And the rest, as they say, is history :-)
What is your connection to the piano?
This was my parents' piano. This is the piano I grew up with.
Do you play the piano or want to learn?
Yes, I play the piano and so do my siblings and my kids and some of my nieces and nephews.
Who will benefit from the restoration if your piano is chosen?
2023 was a rough year. In February my dad died suddenly of a heart attack. He was the main caretaker for our mom who had dementia. Mom died later that year (October 2023). It was a rough year as we juggled taking care of mom and taking care of the estate. So many emotions. As we started to clean out our parents' house I brought the piano to my house so it wouldn't get bumped and hurt as we cleaned. As things got stressful and the grief got to be too much I remember automatically going to the front room in my parent's house to find solace in playing the piano only to remember that it was already gone, moved to my house. I didn't realize how much playing the piano had brought me comfort over the years. Whenever my sister comes to visit she plays and I sing. I can almost hear mom's voice as we sing. Restoring this piano will ensure that we can continue to gather around the piano and come together as a family for many years to come.
Music was a big part of my parents’ lives. Mom and dad touched countless lives with their talents. I'm not sure who first owned this piano. It was built in 1930. My parents were married in 1963 and they bought it within the first few years of their marriage. That’s how important music was to them.
I have memories of playing under this piano as a little child while my mom sang and my dad played the piano. I also have fond memories as a teenager and young adult of gathering around the piano with friends and family and singing. My favorite book is a Rodgers and Hammerstein book with songs from their hits (South Pacific, The King and I etc.). After my siblings and I each got married we would still come back for holidays and Sunday dinners and gather around the piano. We would sing together and then listen to the grandkids play their favorite songs.
From my sister:
Our family piano has been the center of family life for as long as I can remember. We all learned to play piano on this piano—how well I remember the tap, tap, tap of my mother’s wedding ring on the wood when she was my metronome! Another favorite memory is when the extended family would gather around the piano to sing. My dad or I were generally the accompanists, and we would all sing until we were hoarse. Then there were talent shows where most of the grandchildren played something on the piano. When my dad was in his 80’s he lost the use of most of the fingers on his right hand and couldn’t play like he used to. Every now and then I would slip into the music room during a quiet moment and play something from one of his books of classical piano. He told me later that hearing the piano played brought him great joy. My mother was a beautiful soprano (dad was her accompanist for most of their lives). She had advanced Alzheimer’s when she died last year and I was so glad that I had spent some time in the previous year singing with her at that piano. Whenever she was in good voice we would sing her favorites and record them. Now that my parents are gone, the piano is at my sister’s house. It is so full of memories, but moving it revealed some significant problems that will need to be addressed. I would love to have this piano refurbished so that we can make memories for many generations!
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YEAR 1920-1930
MAKE From a Farm Boy's Dream to Love at First Chord, This Cherished Family Piano is a Musical Legacy Passed Down Through Generations!
