An Old Piano Sings

 I love how Luke can create so much music
with this old piano.

This piano is the one my Grandma and Grandma Beck

bought for my mama

when she was learning how to play.

She was 8 years old when she started

and they didn't have a piano yet.

She practiced on the window sill at first.

She has told me that one of her favorite memories ever

is the day she got this piano.

It's over 130 years old now and way past its prime.

The last time I had it tuned,

the tuner said he couldn't make it sound any better

because the strings are just worn out.

So it definitely has a twang when played.

But it brings back so many memories

of when it was in my Grandma Beck's house.

My mama would play

and we would all sing.

Since I got it, it has moved into 3 parsonages

and then here.

Most of the time,

Luke practices on the really good piano

that is at my mama's house (right beside our house)

but I LOVE it when he practices here

and makes my old piano sing.

I hear such sweet sounds from my past

as I also hear my boy orchestrating his future.

I am blessed.

62

Dear Rob,

You would be 62 years old today.

When we met and started dating,

we talked about everything.

Even way back then,

when I was 25 and you were 34,

we talked about retirement.

Today, you would have hit that magic age of 62

when you could take early retirement

if you wanted to.

However, Luke being born when you were

one month shy of being 44 years old

pretty much guaranteed that

you would need to work to age 66 in 2025

and Luke was finished with college.

2025 would also be exactly 30 years in the ministry.

So that's what we had practically planned.

But we often talked

of that early retirement age of 62

and how it would be fun to retire then

if possible.

Especially if we had grandchildren by then.

I remember you saying that you couldn't wait

to spoil your grandchildren.

I remember laughing and telling you

that you already treated Luke like a grandchild.

So, we always kept that age 62 early retirement

possibility in the discussion.

I've thought a lot about that this past week

leading up to your birthday date.

Would we be retiring now?

Or would we be keeping on in the ministry?

If you had lived, how would your health be by now?

Would your scar tissued lungs that were so prone to pneumonia

have forced you into a medical disability by now?

Or, by some miracle, would you still be going strong?

And Covid.

Well, Covid would have most likely forced you

into early retirement.

In fact, in 2009,

without a pandemic in our world,

your doctor told you to retire

or change careers.

He said visiting the sick in their homes, in hospitals, in nursing homes

and being in groups like at church, in meetings, and at Annual Conference

was too much for your immune system.

His exact words were some that I have never forgotten hearing...

"You will die early if you don't get out of the ministry."

You died 2 years later at age 52.

But, even though I've thought this week about

that early retirement age of 62 that you would be today,

I haven't spent too much time dwelling on it.

Because, 

the truth is,

I know you are totally healed now

and you are free from all of your issues.

And that 

brings

me 

peace.

There's a ministry joke that says,

"Work for the Lord.

The pay isn't much

but the retirement plan

is out of this world!"

So I am thankful that you are getting to enjoy

the retirement plan that you

got to take really early.

You didn't even have to wait until age 62!

I still miss you.

Your children still miss you.

That never changes.

And I remain ever so thankful,

as always,

that you loved me as long as you could

and that our love gave me our children,

my four joys!

Crystol, Anna, Wesley, and Luke.

With love,

Your Janna

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hope you enjoy the photos from last year's birthday post!

For those who might want to read what I've written before,

here is the link to past years' entries.

https://jannasview.blogspot.com/2019/01/60.html