Music and specifically, the piano, has been an important part of my life. As a young child i was drawn to music and felt an inclination to play the piano. I spent hours experimenting and learning about the piano and notes and the relationship of the various keys. We did not have resources to have piano lessons and when a kind church member offered free piano lessons to me, I did not have the proper attention span or mindset to learn how to read music. She did recognize that I could play by ear and she helped me develop that talent and would simply play for me and have me play back what I was watching and hearing. This was only for a brief few months but it was an important part in my musical progress. Despite my limited abilities on the piano, I found that I could find solace and comfort while on the piano. During particularly trying times in my youth, including the passing of my mother and then moving and living in different situations and cultures, I was able to find consistency and stability of my situation, in part, when I found myself on the piano. Because I could not read, I spend most of my time creating music and writing songs of my own. I liked the way that 50s music used to make me feel — happy and upbeat and optimistic and sometimes heartfelt and sincere and even sad, but it was a way to feel sympathy for others heartbreaks and joys in love and life and I found great comfort in that. As a result, I can probably play any 50’s song on the piano. To this day, I am not an accomplished piano player and I cant read music, but I can play. I can sit down and play melodies that are pleasing to me. I have written several songs and found joy in that. Life has been busy and there are times and even months or years that go by, without having time to play and write and enjoy the piano as I once did, but when I do find time to be by myself and to simply sit and play, it is like an old friend coming to visit. We can remember the old times or we can work on new memories and melodies. Music and musical instruments can be enjoyed by many and not just those who have become experts or masters at it. I fall in that category of an unordinary piano player, with an unordinary love for pianos.
I have several pianos. One was the piano my mother learned to play the piano on as a teenager. Her parents bought the used piano just for her to learn, despite their meager circumstances. The upright piano still has the old tuning notes inside the piano dating back to the 1940s. I have a baby grand that my parents bought in the 1960s that I learned to play on. My mother and father would ask me to play for them in the evenings, when they were winding down at the end of long day with 9 children to raise. i would play soft melodies and watch as they would relax and sometimes even dose a little. My mother passed away when I was 12 and the piano reminds me of her. After her passing, my father would find even more solace in asking me to play for him in the evenings by himself and so the piano reminds me of him also. When our family moved from California to Hawaii after the passing of my mother, this piano came with us and was my reminder of happier days back home in California. Years later, after I was married, my older brother offered the piano to me and it was like having your favorite pet dog back with me for life, with the assurance that he would never die! I have had the piano now in my life for 58 years and it is my favorite piano. We have an old 1872 Steinway, that sits in your warehouse, because of the kindness of Brigham, who offered to let us keep it there until a future day when we could restore it, or perhaps he would have a buyer who would want to buy it. We had it in our home for several years but found that we could not keep it tuned very well. It needs help. But the sound is deep and rich and fabulous when it is tuned. It is made of Brazilian rosewood and is one of the most beautiful looking pianos you will ever see. I bought it for a large sum of money early in my marriage from Bill Harris. He said to have purchased it from BYU, but I have not sought to verify this. I would one day love to restore the inside of that piano and thus why I am entering in this contest. It is our dream to one day be able to restore it and bring it back home.

• YEAR 1870-1880
• MAKE Steinway
• FINISH Brazilian Rosewood
• CATEGORY CONTESTANT