The story of the Gulbransen Piano, enjoyed by several generations

My grandmother on my mother’s side of the family, Lucy Kratzer, loved to spend hours working on crossword puzzles. Her brother, called Kerr by the family, preferred to smile while he recited all the remarkable accomplishments of our 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, including details about his birthday.

These two teachers by profession, grandmother Lucy and great uncle Kerr, easily remembered dates, places, relatives, someone’s new buggy, etc. Does anyone care what Abraham Lincoln had for his birthday?

My mother and her aunt Grace, who had lots of friends, shared the same name. Sometimes it was Esther-Grace and other times it was Grace-Esther.

My mother did not smile in the presence of these elderly relatives though. Her gift was in another area: patching a hole in a sock, writing a simple letter to a cousin or ordering me to get busy while saying, “No, you can’t go to grandma Milner’s house today.”

Mother didn’t approve of her mother-in-law because when my sister and I were in that house, grandma Milner gave us treats we did not get at home.

Grandma Milner often suffered from migraine headaches and drank a lot of coffee to dull the pain while she worked in the kitchen, cooking a nice dinner for us, the visiting family.

Occasionally, the relatives sitting in the parlor would snicker and make fun of her during those times. I, too, would laugh, being part of the gang at the age of 7. Later on, when I was much older and migraines attacked me, I remembered those days and felt the shame of what we had done.

Grandma Milner had a piano, a large, new Gulbransen. I was not allowed to play it unless my hands were clean. While she dusted the other furniture, she would show me how to dust the piano and then I was privileged to run my fingers over the keys.

Many years have gone by since those times of growing up. When grandma Milner passed away my father said to me, “She wanted you to have the piano.”

It’s an important part of my home. My own children have practiced their piano lessons on the Gulbransen. My granddaughter, McKindsay Dow, plays classical music as she and this remarkable instrument together make the air sing with melodies.

This piano has helped me compose six musical dramas for various programs. Best of all, this sturdy Gulbransen has kept me going in the right direction when the clouds of life threaten to pull me aside.

And I say, “Thank you, grandma Milner. I will see you later!”

Luella Dow is a Cheney-area author. She can be reached at [email protected].