My ballet class when I was 8 or 9 (I was on the right)
Years later, we decided that our oldest daughter would start piano lessons when she was 7, I think. I'm not sure why, but it was probably because we were a preacher & preacher's wife and church music was very much a part of our lives. We bought an old HUGE upright piano that was in the Fellowship Hall at our church in Lake Worth, FL, and Missy took her first lessons from our church pianist.
Missy's piano lesson, age 8
A few years later, we were living in Midway, NC (near Winston-Salem). By this time, our 3 daughters and I were taking piano lessons from 2 different teachers. Rick traded in the old piano on a newer Yamaha upright in 1992. I took lessons for only a couple of years & I stunk at it. I kept looking at the numbers above the notes & didn't practice enough. It's too hard to teach an old dog new tricks (which is why I still hunt & peck when I type!)
Missy had gotten pretty good by this time & even played some in church. She's composed several songs, including one that was in her wedding. Becky did pretty well for the amount of time that she was able to have lessons. She is known for her repertoire of a few select songs. :) Katie learned some & took more lessons after we moved to Port Charlotte, FL, but then decided to concentrate on voice lessons. She finally got proficient when she took several required semesters of piano in college.
One unique thing about our piano was that it made us discover that our dog was musical! When we were living in Port Charlotte, our Boston Terrier, Eligius, fathered a litter of puppies and we got the pick of the litter. Kayla was born in 1994 and we discovered when she was tiny that she liked piano music. When anyone would play the piano, she would howl! Through the years, it was discovered that she liked "Spinning Song," one of the songs that Missy would play. So, that became Kayla's song. Missy's times spent at the piano would always have to include that song & then a dog cookie at the end!
Missy & Kayla, 2006
With all of the moving that we've done, we've had to move these pianos with us. Rick has said more than once that the movers loved seeing us coming, because the piano would add a lot to the weight of our load! The worst move with a piano was when we moved to Buford, GA. We were waiting for our house to be built and were in an apartment for 6 months. Our apartment was located down a flight of stairs. You should've seen the burly moving guy taking that piano down the stairs! It took several guys to move it back out, but thankfully, they had made a sidewalk in our new apartment community by then, making it slightly easier.
By the time we moved to Ft. Wayne, Missy was married & living in Augusta, GA, Becky was also in Augusta and Katie was in college. So, our nest was pretty much empty, except for some appearances from Katie on breaks and Christmas visits from the older girls. Kayla & the piano were still with us, so I'd have to bang on it on occasion to give her some piano time. By this time, she was so starved for piano music that she didn't cared if it was chopsticks, banging or whatever! When the girls would come to visit, she'd still take her place under the piano and howl, like old times.
Kayla, 14, passed away in October. Katie moved to Nashville in May & got married in November. The girls were all here for Christmas, but I don't think I heard the piano played. Missy might have played it once when I was at work. It just wasn't the same without Kayla!
When Katie was home last winter after graduating from Belmont, she helped us put wood flooring in our living room/den. It was quite a project, but we learned a lot & it looks great. A few weeks ago, Rick & I decided to put wood flooring in our dining room. That was where the piano was and I wondered how the wood flooring would tolerate the weight of the piano. I thought maybe one of the girls would like to have the piano, but Missy already has one; Katie might've liked to have it to put in a house in the future, but that could be years from now. Rick really didn't want to move that piano again. So, I talked with the girls and then reluctantly suggested that we sell the piano. That's hard for me, because I'm very melancholy & nostalgic and am also a pack rat.
Teamwork on the dining room floor
We listed it on Ebay for 10 days. We had hundreds of people look at our listing, a few early bids on it and 15 or so watchers, pretty good for something that had to be picked up locally. 2 families and an individual came to look at & play it. It was really nice hearing it played (it almost made me cry!) Missy had said that she hoped someone nice would get it and I prayed so, too. At the end Tuesday night, the 2 families who'd visited bid on it and a young couple won it. We might've hoped for a little more on it, but it was an OK price. The husband came today to pick up the piano for his wife. While we were waiting for the piano mover to come, we became acquainted with this young man. He's a young pastor in his first ministry out of college and his wife is a nurse at the same hospital where I work! They are expecting their first child. Is that a God thing or what?! I'm so excited about where the piano is going, to become a part of another pastor's family's life song.
Piano on dollies, after moving it out of the dining room
I learned a lesson from my mother a couple of years ago. My dad's health had deteriorated and my parents could no longer live in their home in the mountains of North Carolina. So, Rick & I and my brother's family went to Sparta to close up their house there since they were going to be staying in Florida near my brother, Rick. I watched Mother give up many, many things that had been special (like her wedding gown), because she knew they wouldn't have room in the house that they'd buy in FL after their mountain property sold.
Sometimes, we have to let go of THINGS. They can become blessings to others. We still have wonderful memories. Those can't be taken away. We still have a song in our hearts.
Katie & Kayla, 2007
