The antique piano

This is the piano I grew up on.  They don't make them like this anymore; and for how old it is, it's still in great shape.  Truthfully we don't know exactly when our piano was built, but the most recent date engraved on the soundboard is August 18, 1882--interestingly enough, precisely 128 years prior to the day I returned from my mission.  Let's take a peek inside this beauty:

 

I wish this old piano could talk and share its story.  It only came into my family's possession in 1988; so as far as it's concerned, I'm still fairly new.  I want to know who played this piano before me.  I want to know how it got to the place where my parents found it, and where it stopped along the way.  Was it the background to a saloon somewhere?  Or did a more wealthy family put it in their parlor?  One of these days I'd like to write such a story.

But, here and now, I know this piano is part of our family, and will continue to be as long as I have anything to say about it.  I've played on it my whole life, and I'm delighted that my children will also play on it.  The arrangement is that when I'm married and moved out of the house, I will inherit the piano.  And so the story will continue onward into the next generation of pianists (and the fact that my wife and I won't have to take time to save up for a piano is also a huge plus).

Until then, starting today, it is in the care of my older brother, who will protect it, play it, and love it.  But just moving the thing proved a most impressive feat; as I said, they don't make pianos like this anymore.  It's almost as tall as me, and quite a bit heavier!

But you know, a house without a piano just feels . . . kind of empty.

Guess it's time for a new one!