On August 4, 1923 an upright Steinway & Sons piano was completed in New York and shipped to Indianapolis, IN. In the mid 1960s, my grandparents bought the piano from my grandfather's friend from IU, Lucas Wise. The piano made it's way to Greenville, IL when my grandparents moved there in the 1970s, and resided in my grandparents house on Forest Ave. until the early 1990s, when my grandma got a new piano and gave me the old Steinway. It moved into the finished part of our basement at our house on Willow Street where I started taking piano lessons. When my parents move to the house on the lake in 1997, the piano moved once more into the basement. Last month, the piano came to our house in Des Peres. When we bought this house, I knew from the start exactly where that piano would sit. It will probably be in that spot now until we move out of this house, which I hope isn't for many years. The mahogany finish is crackled and worn from sitting close to a fireplace for years, but I love that about it. That gives it character. Ironically, that also makes it coordinate perfectly with our office furniture that is in the same room where it now resides.
Everyone asks me now whether Audrey is going to take lessons. That is her choice. It would be great if she decided to do that. Honestly though, Barrett has shown more interest in the piano than Audrey. He is always trying to climb up on the bench so he can press the keys. Surprisingly, he doesn't just pound on them either. In a few years, he too will be able to make the choice to take piano lessons if he so desires. In the meantime, we have a beautiful addition to our home as we carry on the history of a 90 year old piano.
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