The PIANO

I have always wanted to learn how to play the piano.

A little while ago, one of my neighbors was moving and had an old piano that wasn't going to make the trip.

My friend, knowing that I wanted to learn to play, recruited her husband and they wheeled it into my garage. She said that I could refinish it and it would be lovely. He said it sounded great and only needed some TLC. (thank you amy and chris.) I was delighted and admired it every time I went into the garage...

Well, I admired it for the first year.

I'm sorry to admit that I began to think less and less about the piano. It stayed in my garage, waiting for someone to pay it a little bit of attention. I imagine it grew used to the dark, only seeing small amounts of daylight when Brady piled more stuff inside. Recently, he started to put his jujitsu mats and work out stuff up on top of it.

Are you feeling sad for the piano yet?

A little old lady from church spotted the piano one day when our garage was left open. (In my mind, the poor, neglected piano was beaming from seeing so much light in one day.) She asked about the piano, saying that she wished she had one.

I decided that I should give it to her.
I can always find another piano, right?

I forgot to mention that this neighbor is from Uruguay. She has a hard time speaking English. The first time I met her, she was carrying boxes into the house. The boxes looked like they weighed as much as she did. Anyway, I went over to help her and she said, "Oh, you sister...You Jesus Christ Church!!!" And from that moment on my name became "Sister." (I'm pretty sure she doesn't know my real name.)

I told Brady that I was going to give away my piano.

And he said, "No you are not."

He doesn't say that often, but he said it several more times before he wheeled the piano from our garage over to her garage. That's is the 3rd garage in a row for the piano, poor thing.

Brady found an old lawn chair and set it in front of the piano.Then he motioned for Zumi to sit down. She put the furniture polish she was holding on the piano, sat down and started to cry.

Maybe you know the poem called The Touch of the Master's Hand. It's about an old violin being auctioned off.

Well, when she played the piano, it was amazing. It was a lot like the poem. My old, scratched up piano sang out as Zumi's fingers swept over the keys. She played How Great Thou Art. Then she asked if I like Bach as she started to play a beautiful arrangement. I could tell that Brady was feeling emotional because he went back over to our garage and started moving things around. I just stood there and cried.

And that is why I don't have a piano anymore.






xoMJ