It was fate, i said. Something told me i needed to go out.
Snow and rain was coming.
It had to be now,
I said.
And without hesitation, you put on your coat and shoes and we walked hastily down the weathered sidewalk to save it from sure death at the hands of the hangings-on of winter rains and snow...
Somehow we moved it from where it stood tipped on its end by the owners front door and to the street by working together and walking it gently side to side to side.
Once we get it to the street i said,
Its all pretty much down hill from here....
And we looked toward home together. Surveying the potholes, dips and little inclines...
Bright yellow water tower marking our home like a giant pin on the grand map of our lives together.
We began to push.
A bit like guiding a renegade canoe i said, right?
A bit even like giving birth, it is.
We took turns being the steerer and the pusher, working together...stopping to rest when the other could go no longer.
Leaning on the piano for support.
Leaning on eachother.
Just think of how the children will love this, we said to one another, heavy breathing, laughing at the spectacle we must be with us and the loud rumbling of the piano going down the street.
We made it home.
And a weary high five went up.
We pushed that piano almost five blocks together. Didn't we dear?
What a story to pass along, right love?
A lesson in marriage, i said.
Right, you said between heavy breaths. We were winded and cold from the morning air, but excited...how often does an opportunity like this come along? We said.
A free piano.
I used to take lessons, you know. And you knew because I've only told you a million times over the last 10 years.
But you listened nonetheless, like it was the first time you ever heard it.
We lost a leg off the front of it in the last hundred yards or so. The vibration and rumbling was too much for that poor thing.
Nothing that can't be fixed, you said.
Nothing that can't be fixed.
Then i covered our prize with plastic and quilts and after you left for class the rain finally came.
I thought for certain our hard work was in vain.
And then i thought to myself, it was all about the journey together.
And even if our treasure got ruined outside in the elements, we would still have the memory.
Or perhaps we made someone watching from their window chuckle...or we gave someone a little hope...or a moment to simply forget for awhile and watch that crazy couple out there in the cold,
Pushing a piano home.
