Our Piano

Join me today for Wednesday's Walk Down Memory Lane. For instructions on how to participate, click here.

Jonas at the piano

I bought my piano 15 years ago on a whim when my husband was out of town.

My mom and I took my two little ones to a big piano sale that was advertised on television. It was at the Century 2 Convention Hall in Wichita, KS. I hadn’t really planned to buy one, but the salesman said, “We’ll, go ahead and fill out the paper work and if you’re husband say’s “No”, just call us back and we’ll cancel it!” I thought, Well that sounds easy. So, I bought it – unofficially. When my traveling husband got home and I told him I bought a piano, he said it was okay, so my piano was delivered that week.

When it arrived I marveled at it's beauty. It was a lovely addition to my living room. It was a beautiful warm oak Baldwin. Even though it needed tuning since it had just been moved, I played it (sort of) and loved it! Jared sat up on the piano bench and played like a 3 year old would. He loved it too.

My piano has been played by all of my family members. The only real pianist in our family so far is Jared, but before Anna died, she was very good at it for her age. She could play Ode to Joy at just 2 years old. Some of our other children are in the process of learning to play.

Jared, Cecily and Anna 2000

There are so many fond memories attached to our piano. I’ve discovered that I like singing around it more than playing it (there just hasn’t been the time to learn). . I love listening to Jared play. He plays so I can sing too. Some of my favorites to sing are songs from Sense and Sensibility, Sunrise Sunset, Phantom of the Opera, Rigoletto, Requiem, an old Amy Grant book and many others. On days when he senses I’m stressed out, he often plays Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice or Emma because he knows they relax me.

Our family loves to sing around the piano together too. Cecily is especially fond of Phantom of the Opera music, and her daddy sings the Phantom’s part quite well. I always tell him that he should have been an opera singer. Abigail does killer harmonies with me on Sunrise Sunset. We also love to sing Christmas Carols that Jared plays out of our Reader’s Digest Christmas book that Kyle and I bought when we first got married.

We’ve danced around the piano, taken many family pictures in front of it, and watched little people pound on it. We’ve used the piano for church gatherings. We’ve had guests sit down and play our piano, and we’ve had Jared’s students play on it.

Our piano is like a member of our family. I’m glad I bought it on a whim 15 years ago. God knew it would minister to us through the years. God knew it would be used to serve him and bring us joy. Our piano is well-loved.

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