The Piano Marm

Usually it's "schoolmarm," but this time there's no school. Just a house and a musical instrument.

You see, my grandmother "gave piano." That’s what they called it back in the day. Mom used that term to tell me what she did.

I don’t remember Grandma actually doing it, although I do remember the upright snuggled in tightly in a rectangular space right next to the stairs (they made a sharp left turn halfway up in this old house). I also remember Mom at the keyboard, but don’t recall what she was playing.

Then the day came when the piano was taken out the front door. I was on the lawn watching this, not quite knowing the significance. Was it the time my grandmother no longer gave piano? Did someone else in the family need it? I’ll never know, because I never thought to ask.

Many years later, about 18 of them, I taught myself how to play. Some time after that, I met this dear old lady who gave piano and she tutored me for two years before I moved. No upright this, but a Steinway model B, it was.

Are there any small towns left where one might find a sign that says, “Piano Given”? Where you might find wheat pennies in your change?