How to Care for Your Hairless Rat: Saying Goodbye to a Friend

2019-04-17

Saying Goodbye to a Friend

My dad was kind of a renaissance man, and liked to do a little bit of a lot of different kinds of things. He loved working with his hands, wasn't afraid to try anything, he loved music but also camping and doing other boy stuff. I think he came by that flexible mindset from his mother.

My Grandma Genevieve was widowed at a young age, and managed to not only raise 6 children on her own but also ran the family business for a time after Grampa died. She was a tiny little woman that went through breast cancer twice (back when treatments were nothing short of barbaric) and finally pancreatic cancer which ultimately took her from us. She was carrying her 7th child at the time of her husbands unexpected death, and while she lost that child, she went on to see 29 grandchildren, and countless great grand children as well.

Genevieve with my oldest daughter. She went on to be classically trained on
Gramma's piano, and plays beautifully today.

One of her God given talents was music. Specifically playing the piano. She always had one in her house, and played it all the time. I remember realizing as a child that she never had any music in front of her, but played "by ear" and did so beautifully even with hands that were twisted by arthritis.

Over the years, for one reason or another, several of her pianos passed through our home. One in particular was an upright grand that someone had upholstered with vinyl. I'd love to know what it looked like under that abomination!! As that one passed through my parents front door on it's way to a new home with one of my friends, the young men moving it dropped it onto one of my mom's prized Camilla bushes. oops. Piano 1 / Camilla bush 0, but the piano lived on! I replaced the bush, but it was never quite the same.

In the early 80's, I was blessed to receive one of her pianos. I think a move motivated her to get rid of this one, and I believe it was the last one she owned. She always picked them up used, and usually, slapped some white paint on them as soon as she got them through the door. This is a 1952 Gulbraunsen cottage height or spinet. It's small, and was really a great size for us as we knew several moves would be in our future and we never knew how much room we would have to house it.

Daughter #1 before lessons started

Daughter #2 making her mark

Following Gramma's lead, I suppose, we had a friend refinish it soon after it arrived, and it went back to it's original light wood. The only thing missing was the decal which had to be sacrificed when it was stripped. He did a beautiful job, and the style that was all the rage when it was built is now solidly back in vogue as "Mid Century Modern". I didn't really care what it looked like. I just loved it's beautiful rich sound and the soft touch it afforded. It was perfect for Gramma's crippled hands, and our children and I have thoroughly enjoyed it for 35 years.

It's been moved a lot. I don't know it's history before Gramma took possession, but we've moved it 8 times from coast to coast. It's also been played literally countless hours. For years in our home, there were 3 of us playing it, and sometimes it got a little frustrating to get some piano time. Our oldest daughter took lessons for 12 years, the youngest studied for a few years but then turned to vocal music. I'm just a hack, not nearly as talented as they are, but I have always enjoyed messing with it.

Daughter #1 passing the time while she waited for her date to pick her up. It was the first time they went out, and he is now one of our favorite son in laws!

Our second daughter played for awhile, but she went on to be classically trained in voice. They weren't twins, but dressed as twins for a special high school event.

A famous duet.

This piano has enjoyed everything from the most talented at it's keys to little people that can barely reach it literally banging out their very own melody. It's had sticky keys from sticky fingers, pennies pushed through the crevices between the keys, babies playing with the pedals, and has been the place of honor for the lamp and the anniversary clock that handsome brought home from Japan, and the ever increasing collection of grandchildren's pictures. We never named it, but it's been an old friend, for sure.

The 3 Amigos. The oldest grandsons

The short people always enjoyed it.

Sticky keys weren't unusual

The fourth generation getting ready for lessons!

And now the time has come to say farewell to this piece of family history. We're taking our first definitive step toward downsizing, and I'm a little sad. There have been periods when the piano was played constantly, and other times when it sat silent for months at a time. But the next move it's making is out our front door to it's new home with another young family.