Friday, June 18, 2010
4:24 AM
Toy Pianos & Big, Big Dreams
I was born wanting a piano. My parents will tell you that I wanted one and asked for one almost everyday of my life as a kid. It took me until the summer after my 6th grade year to finally talk them into investing in one. Pianos are not only passionate love and fun to me, but they are also beautiful works of art to me. When I was a little girl, I would stare at them for hours in catalogs and books. Anytime we went to friend's houses and I saw that they had a piano, I would gravitate to it immediately and my parents would always have to chase me away. LOL I just HAD to have one. So to tide me over in my preschool and elementary days, they bought me a couple of these. They were so cool because they looked just like the real thing only they were obviously smaller. I played the heck out of those little off-key treasures!Later on, during the summer before my 6th grade year, the Youngsland family went camping together. It was there that a random conversation lead to my Uncle Cliff mentioning the fact that someone he knew had a used piano that they were trying to sell for only $50. I jumped on that, of course, and immediately begged my dad to call the guy as soon as we got back to town. I really didn't think that he would, though.
A couple of weeks later, Bernie and my mom came into my room to tell me that I needed to clear my toys out of the way because some men had arrived and they were going to be delivering something to my room. Because my room had always been my family's favorite dumping ground for all discarded things, I still didn't make the connection. In fact, I was a little perturbed because I was tired of having so much stuff in my room that didn't belong to me. Within a few moments, while clearing my stuff away from the designated wall, I heard a commotion in the hall and stepped out to see what was going on. I almost passed out when I saw that a piano was being carried down our hall toward my bedroom. I had literally been dreaming of that all of my life. I just couldn't believe it! There were three things I wanted all of my life: a piano, a pool, and braces. I never expected to get any of them but there that piano was, on it's way to my bedroom. My dad had indeed called the guy (who turned out to be a scary, scary guy but that's a tale for another time) and agreed to purchase the piano but mom, dad, and Bernie had kept it a secret from me. I was so glad that they did because that made for the surprise of a lifetime. For as long as I live, I will never forget that moment.
The moment AFTER the men left and I was left to behold my long-awaited prize was almost one of the worst of my life. When I went to play it, I quickly realized that all of the keys were stuck. My heart sank to the bottom of the earth. It was like a cruel, cruel joke. I had wanted a piano all of my life and now that I had one, it didn't work at all. I didn't want my parents to see me cry because they were so excited to give that piano to me, so I held it in but inside, I was dying. My dad must have sensed that I was worried because he casually mentioned that piano keys swell and stick when pianos are put next to moisture. The previous owner had put it right in front of a water cooler. Apparently the guy didn't know that the piano was being damaged by the moisture and didn't know that drying it out would make it work again, which is why he let it go for a mere $50. My dad seemed certain that time and some attention from him could get my new piano in working order so I felt a little better.
My mom needed to go to the grocery store so she, Bernie and I ran up to Safeway. We were probably only gone about an hour or so but believe it or not, just that amount of time made a world of difference in my piano. When we returned home, I went into my room, ran my fingers across the keys and some of them actually felt different and made a sound. I couldn't believe it. Even my dad hadn't expected things to change that quickly. I went to bed that night feeling much more confident in the hope that my piano was going to dry out and become 100% functional. Over the course of the next week, it continued to improve and by the end of a week or so, I was playing up a storm and there were only a few sticky keys left. They were up in the highest register so they really didn't cause me any problems at all as I didn't ever need to use those keys. I was soooooooo happpy!
Once the drying out process was complete, we did however notice that there were two broken keys. The parts were still there but the little stick that moves the hammer had snapped. My sweet daddy spent an afternoon working to put those back together in a way that would allow them to work properly without breaking again. He did a fantastic job and they worked for as long as I had the piano. My beautiful prize was just a worn, old upright hunk of ivory and wood. It sure wasn't much to look at but I loved that thing as though it were the most lavish, expensive, beautiful piano in the world. I wouldn't have traded it for all the money in the world. I had waited a long, long time to get it and it was given to me with a great deal of love from my parents who were financially struggling a lot at the time. It was my pride and joy.
There's another chapter or two to this piano story that involves the loss of my beloved piano as a result of an ugly divorce and a drunken father, as well as the acquisition of two more pianos, one of which still sets in my parent's house today but I'll have to save those chapters for another time because I'm already crying so hard I can barely see to type. Memories of one's childhood is such an extravagant gift but because life is messy rather than perfect, it's also a journey that's both beautiful, and painfully difficult on a tender heart. More piano tales to come....
*one quick, random Bernie-related piano story - Sitting on the piano bench together, trying to learn "Crockodile Rock", a piece of music he had suggested I get because he really loved the song and explained to me how it reminded him of the relationship he had with Linda. I don't remember all of the similarities he listed but I do remember two of them being that he drove a Chevy and Linda's middle name was Sue, though some member of her family sometimes called her "Suzy". The song clearly meant a lot to him so I worked hard to learn it for him. I still think about that day sitting on my piano bench with him every single time I hear that song playing on the radio. I put it on my ipod for the same reason. Little sisters remember a lot of things that big brothers would never guess they would. : )
O.K. I've moved from regular cry, to big, ugly cry now so I'm really taking a break this time. : )