I love an heirloom…

Grampa's piano circa 1940s

Music has been woven through my whole life. Brother, cousin, father, grandfather, great-aunt… they all played the piano and the memories of listening to them bring a smile to my face and heart. Some of our musicians took formal lessons, but most may have been self-taught. 

An old Grinnell upright piano with a faded black walnut finish and chipped ivory keys provided enjoyment for generations of our family. Fond memories come to mind of one of those  afternoons with grandparents, great-aunts and great-uncles and the old upright piano with Grampa playing, everyone singing… all of the joy preserved by dad by means of an old wire recorder in the very early ’50s.  I remember sitting on that stairwell watching Grampa play and hearing the old, old songs… “Toot Toot Tootsie, Goodbye,” “Margie,” “If You Were The Only Girl In The World,” to name a few. We listened to the great-aunt with the quivery voice, the great-aunt who couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket and the myriad of others who sang, or should we say performed, for us with heartfelt fervor. My great uncle would change the words to “Margie” while he sang to mourn the loss of a love that didn’t happen. He was from New York and met one of my Gramma’s cousins when he visited his brother in Detroit. He was smitten from the beginning by the young woman and planned to marry her. Unfortunately he was already engaged to a woman in New York. As the story goes, he went to a bachelor party before he broke off the engagement and woke up married to the New Yorker. He never forgot his Michigan love. 

Years later, sitting in the family basement rec room at a communion or graduation party… or just a gathering, we heard those same songs sung by many of the same singers, but with a different piano player… my dad, my brother or my cousin. 

I have those songs today… a tribute to our past. They were transferred from that very old wire recording to reel-to-reel tape to cassette tape to CD… and as I listen to them, I’m a little girl again seeing my loving family spend such wonderful times together. 

My Grinnell piano circa 1900

I was given a piano at 19, not that upright piano, but one from a generation even earlier. One of my very special great-aunts was given the piano from her beloved aunt and she gave it to me, she felt I was the one in the family who would cherish it and love it as much as those before me. It dates back to about 1900 and it’s still in my basement today (and in tune). This old Grinnell upright has served four generations now and will go to the fifth generation when we downsize our home.