Deja Vu all over again . . . I now have my grandmother's piano . . .

Wow! It's finally here.

I'm sitting only 5 feet away from it.  It's like facebook in a way . . . meeting again a long lost friend.  

My "friend" is my late maternal grandmother's Ivers & Pond piano. When my mother asked me what I wanted from my grandmother's estate after her death earlier this year . . . all I asked for was "Granny's piano."  

When my family moved to the Rio Grande Valley in 1966, my grandfather was serving the church in La Feria, TX. I think my grandmother had this piano then in the church parsonage . . . but for sure in 1968, when my grandpa retired, and they bought a home in La Feria, this piano was in their formal living room . . . in fact, it was really in the one spot that was the exact center of their home. And every where they had lived since . . . this piano went with them.  

My grandmother would have it no other way.  

That is how important music was to my grandmother.  

That is how important this piano was to my grandmother.  

This piano has most always been my friend . . . but it didn't start out that way . . . In our family, there were some holidays hosted by my grandmother, in which the children were required to sing before they got to eat.  

And I was always a hungry child.  

So I would stand by the piano as Granny played, and sing along the song she had chosen for me to sing. Family favorites like "Texas, Our Texas," "San Antonio Rose," "Oh, My Papa," "I'm a Little Tea Pot," and of course every Christmas song known to humanity.  

Aw, who am I kidding . . . it was a blast. I enjoyed every minute of it.  

Granny later bought my family a piano for our home, and gave me lessons for a while. I had my own piano book . . . and could do basic scales, etc. But I was also an athlete, and there wasn't much time for piano practice after sports practices and homework . . .  

And then, I discovered the guitar. Funny thing . . . the more I had spent time on piano, the better I would be playing the guitar. I have heard this said so many times now . . . and I regret that I didn't carve out time for piano.  

But then, I am such a "people person."  

Anyways . . . after many years separated . . . my Granny's piano is here in my study .... oh wait, it's no longer a study . . . now it's a "studio" . . . along one wall is the piano, metronome, amp, and the guitars I have at home.  

Awesome.  

I played "Joyful, Joyful" on it a little while ago.  

John Fogerty was right . . . it's deja vu all over again.  

God's grace still amazes me . . . ><>