Once I sold my beloved Steinway ‘A’ grand that had eaten into the space of my neighbor’s apartment where it had been well cared for over a year’s time, I felt obliged to replace it. The ‘A’ had been the first piano for a beginning student who lived at the end of our walkway. For me, it was a spillover piano that I’d purchased in the heat of passion at a nearby estate sale. Located about block away, it so grabbed my attention that I sped off, played it, and snagged the beauty for a bargain price. But I knew a 6’2″ size instrument could not realistically fit into my shrinking apartment–a clutter-box of two side-by-side grands, a P-115 Yamaha portable, and a Yamaha Arius console digital. The only way I could keep it, short of considering expensive storage, was to convince a neighbor to take it bundled in with FREE piano lessons. (Pure baby-sitting barter)

As fate would have it, the family appreciated the “loan” but was heading to a smaller space that could not accommodate the piano. And my not wanting to sell my family heirloom Steinway ‘M’ to make room for the ‘A,’ was my signal to sell off the large grand along with the excess of electronics tightly squeezed into my pod.

But I could not forget the student who needed a piano to fill in the gap Steinway ‘A’ would leave by its departure (set for Sept. 9)

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It all played out with a story-book ending. I sold my Steinway ‘A’ within a week; posted the P-115 and Arius digitals on local Classifieds, (moved them out in quick sales) while making frequent visits to Craigslist in search of a decent, small-size instrument for the neighbor.

After a short piano-searching spree, a tantalizing used Baldwin 44″ upright turned up in San Leandro, (some would call it a “console”) and it played like an angel had blessedly delivered it! So as the Steinway ‘A’ heads to a small church in Morgan Hill, the little Baldwin will look forward to a happy life in El Cerrito!