…I’m lovin’…

For so many years my life revolved around the piano. I played for church, I played for school, I taught lessons, I accompanied soloists…
So much has changed…

We have two pianos in our home (hmmm -- three, if you count the YamahaLkeyboard, which I do not…) The one in the office is the one that gets used the most. It is the one I grew up with and learned to play. It was always in the living room of my parent's house.

The baby grand in the living room (2) just sits there looking pretty. (You could try to play it, but it sounds like an old-timey honky-tonk player-piano.) It was Keith's grandmother's piano. She gave lessons & played for her church in Oklahoma until her health intervened. After she passed away, he flew there, rented a truck & hauled it to Phoenix. That is why I married him. For the piano. That doesn't play. That takes up so much room. That would cost over $5,000 to repair. That is a pain to move every time I redecorate…

One of our wedding presents (3) was a watercolor painting. It was a gift from my sister-in-law. I fell in love with it at first sight. However, the story behind it is even better!

It was painted by an artist from Greeley. A committee who wanted it for a tour of homes commissioned her to create the piece. Prior to painting, she spent time in a piano-building factory studying the (1) workers. The score is excerpted from Sergei Rachmaninov's "Prelude in C# Minor." She didn't have a copy of the music, so Keith's mom lent her a book. (4) The artist left a smudge of ink in the margin (5) of the book. The painting was on view for a couple years, I believe. My sister-in-law saw it once while taking in a tour. She contacted the artist to purchase it when she found out her brother was getting married.
But wait – our story isn't finished! The Rachmaninov piece happened to be what we'd selected for our wedding pianist play when Keith ushered in each of our mothers. Every time I hear this song played, my mind & heart go back to our wedding, this painting & our intricately woven lives.