My Piano Makes it Home

What a ridiculously crazy week. My mother in-law, Diane, stayed with us for a few nights. It was so much fun having her here, but it kept us very busy. Spending time with family, college graduation for one of Brent's many cousins (I love all his cousins. They make me want a big family), date night for Brent and I, and a trip to the Children's Museum. Unfortunately, I left my camera at home, along with my cell phone, and got no pictures of my own of Liam's first trip to the museum. However, Diane had her iPad, and we managed to get some photos that way. I can't wait until she sends them to me. I'm eager to have some new pictures of her and Liam, and to have documentation of all the fun Liam had.

After Diane left, the week stayed busy. Wednesday we ate dinner at my parent's home and Brent and Dad devised and implemented a strategy to get my piano from their house, across town to our home.

My parents graciously bought me a piano many years ago. I started lessons on a keyboard they purchased, and quickly showed them I needed something more substantial to learn and practice my skills on. They somehow got the money together and bought me a beautiful upright Baldwin. I took lessons for 10 years, but then I left home for college, got married, moved between several apartments, and finally settled in our home 2 years ago. I've been without a piano for 8 years, and have gotten quite rusty.

When we bought our home, I knew we could finally move my piano into it. There are no flights of stairs to move it up, and judging how the housing market is, we'll be in this home for quite some time. However, the problem has been logistics. I looked into hiring piano movers, but we'd have to pay at least $300 for that. We also thought about renting a Uhaul and moving it ourselves, but weren't even sure if the piano would be stable enough in that. Plus, did we have enough muscle? Finally, my dad said he thought he could do it with his truck and trailer. Brent and Dad managed to get the piano on a rolling cart, which Dad had borrowed from someone in their church, they then rolled it (with great effort), and lifted it into the trailer. Dad braced it by screwing boards all around it, and we were ready to tow it the 45 minutes to our house.

We were nervous about the 5 steps up to our house, but Dad was able to back the trailer up to our front deck, and only had one step to get it over. In the end my strong husband and father prevailed. I now have my piano filling the empty void which has sat vacant for 2 years, and our house feels more like a home.

This is how this area looked before we moved in. It was originally supposed to be a formal dining room.

Since we moved in, Brent installed new windows, we painted the walls, and installed new carpeting.

We now have a complete space, and love the functionality of it. It's our library, music department, and most importantly, Liam's play area.

We've only had the piano a couple days now, but I'm thoroughly enjoying playing it again.

I may be rusty, but over time I'll regain my skills. I've already dove into Beethoven's, Fur Elise, and soon I'll play it as skillfully as I once did.

Thank you Mom and Dad, for not only buying me this piano, but also for storing it and helping us move it to our home. Also, I want to thank Gran and Granddad for paying for all those lessons. I promise they weren't in vain.

-Anna