My dutch Grandparents purchased their Marshall & Wendell upright piano, some time before 1927.
I am guessing on the year, based on a photograph of my Aunt (Marie) playing the piano.
My Aunt was born in 1913, and she appears to be somewhere between 14 and 16, in the picture.
My Grandparent's home was filled with music.
My Grandfather had a beautiful voice, and led several different choirs.
I've heard wonderful stories about my Grandpa, (playing and singing)around the old piano.
Unfortunately, my Grandfather passed away a year before I was born, so I never actually knew him on this earth.
But my mom always told me that she felt like her dad, had hand - picked me from heaven.
She said that music would calm me down instantly...even as a tiny baby.
My Grandparent's piano (originally) was a player piano, with pedals.
My older sisters remember the piano's music scrolls, and pumping the pedals, as it played "I love you, a bushel and a pec."
But my Grandmother DID NOT like the player portion of the piano.
My mom told me that my Grandmother had the player portion removed, because it made her feel like the piano was possessed with evil spirits! Haha!
My Mother inherited her parent's piano in the 50's (long before I was born) so the piano has always been a part of my life.
I took piano lessons as a young girl, and practiced on this piano.
But my fondest memories (with the piano) were created when I was a teenager.
I'd spend hours and hours, sitting at the piano, composing my own music.
I was more of a singer, than a pianist, so I used the piano to create arrangements for my original songs.
The piano was my happy place.
I grew up, and moved away, but the piano stayed in my mom's home, until she passed away in 2017.
That's when I inherited the piano.
The old ivory keys were very chipped, so my husband and I hired Brigham Larson pianos, to re - key her.
A skilled piano craftsman, came to my mother's home to remove the keys.
He had to clean out the inside of the piano (which was filled with a hundred years worth of dust) to prepare it for the new keys.
As he cleaned out the belly of the piano, he discovered many old coins.
The oldest coin, that was found inside the piano, dated back to 1916 (perhaps that's the year that my Grandparents purchased the piano)?
My Aunt Marie would have been 3 years old in 1916
I can almost see her (3- year-old-fingers) trying to push those coins between the keys).
Once the piano was re - keyed, my husband and I hired Brigham Larson pianos, to move our piano from my mother's home in Orem, to our home in Spanish Fork.
Then (at last) I was reunited with my long lost friend.
I sat down at the piano, and started to play (for the first time in many years) and as I did, tears ran down my face.
The sound of piano music, transported me through time. I felt like I was a teenager again, composing my own music on the piano.
I would be overjoyed, if you chose my Grandparents piano for a rebuild.
It would be an incredible way to honor the past, while creating new family memories for generations to come.
YEAR 1920-1930
MAKE Tale of a Dutch Legacy Piano: Grandparents' Harmonious Home to My Own Soulful Compositions!
