The First Farewell.

This is my piano.

It was my grandmother's piano and is dated around 1905. Old, heavy and a little difficult to tune, it needs some new strings. But it is a part of me, another limb, even if I don't play it that often anymore. Whenever I had troubles as a child/teenager I would immerse myself in music and just play for hours. This big old friend got me through a lot of angst.

One of the challenges of relocating has always been what to do with it. It's not great to store a piano in a concrete box, so we've usually managed to find an accommodating family member. This time it is my brother's turn. 

Last Thursday was D-Day. The piano removalist was booked for 1pm and I tidied the room up and packed away most of the sheet music. I felt very emotional that day, preparing to say goodbye to an old friend.

In my mind, I had a blog post all prepared. With a melancholic air I would describe how I played all my favourite tunes from the past, including this...

And then I was going to take a photo of the truck as it took my friend away. Yes, I was feeling rather indulgent, perhaps the piano brings out the adolescent in me.

As it turned out, the piano guy was late. I rang him around 1.30 and he explained that he was held back with a client and wouldn't be able to make it until around 4. No problem.

At 4.30 I started to call him again, getting only his message bank for the next hour. You can imagine the last message I left for him. I never heard from him again. My fantasy of a romantic farewell to the piano was well and truly squashed!

Yesterday. Round 2.

I had found an alternative removalist through a friend. A lovely German guy named Boris. He was five minutes late and extremely apologetic for that. He whisked the piano away and I neglected to take a photo of the truck as it pulled out of the driveway. I didn't even stand on the porch and wave a hanky.

So, my friend is gone for now. I'm not as moved to tears as I was a week ago. When you're under the hammer you just can't predict how you will react in stressful situations. Sometimes it's a drama, and sometimes it's not. Sometimes you kick, sometimes you get kicked! 

Apparently that's how I roll these days.

J.