After 2 and half months of waiting (long story I won't bore you with!) we finally have a new set of keys in our piano. At least, the tops of the keys are new. Wish I would've thought to take a photo of the old ones--they were dingy, the edges were chipped and hurt our fingers when we tried to play. It was long overdue for some work.

The piano originally belonged to my grandparents. However, they 'lent' it to my family for some years, and it's the piano I grew up playing. When I married and left home, it returned to my grandparents' home.

Grandma Brown passed away in 1997--in some ways I still can't believe it even when I type that. What a light and gift she was to all of us who loved her. (I think everyone who met her loved her!) Several months after her death, my Aunt Posy asked if I'd like the piano. Of course!

One of the biggest gifts my family has given me is a love of music. My grandparents sang, played instruments, performed in choirs, musicals,local theatre and in church. My parents were very musical as well. Humming and whistling are beautiful sounds to me. My own father tends to hum like his father did before him. I love that sound!

So in December of 1997, I packed my newly pg (with #4) self along with baby Grace and my mother in law, Friede, who graciously agreed to help me drive a van pulling a UHaul across West Texas to go pick up Grandma's piano.

I don't remember much about that trip--maybe that's a good thing! I do know I still feel so privileged to have my grandmother's piano. It's more than an instrument to me. It's a precious family heirloom and I hope it always stays in the family. It's been overseas and back(twice), been moved around several times by government movers, and has still survived. It could likely tell stories if it could talk. Family mementos and belongings mean so much to me, with our transient lifestyle. Though I know they are temporal, they give us a concrete link to our roots, remind us of who we are and where we've come from. The piano is one material thing that I've had in my life as long as I remember.