Gone, baby, Gone

We sold the organ today.

Yep.

She's gone.

She now lives in Texas, somewhere.

Hmmm, for those of you who don't know, a little background.

It was August of 2002. Jim's birthday was coming up in September. For HIS birthday, he said he wanted ME to have an organ. I had just started playing piano for churches and wanted to learn the organ. He researched them, called people, called real organists, and got a pretty good idea of what a good organ should do.

He did all of that for me!

How could I say no?

So, in November of 2002, she arrived. All golden wood and lights. Alpha, who was 18 months old at the time, LOVED it! She would hit a button, the lights would light up, and she would squeal with delight! We didn't let her play with it, but it was so cute to watch!

So I began learning. It was hard. Mainly because I had a toddler with me. I would plug in the headphones and practice while she took a nap. I used it to work up hymns for church on Sunday. I even practiced for several weddings on it.

After Beta came along, the organ just kind of sat there. If I didn't have much time to learn it with 1 kid, I CERTAINLY didn't have time to learn it with 2.

That was about the last few times I played it in earnest. Once we moved, there was no reason to play it. I don't have a church job up here, and have no reason to believe I'll get one. I don't even really want one, now, because I have another job and I enjoy sitting in church with my family.

So for nearly the past 2 years, the organ has sat there, unplayed. And luckily unharmed. (unlike a certain drawer in the bathroom that now needs to be replaced......that's for another post) The girls would use the bench as a diving board and jump from 3 feet up into the beanbag. (Last summer I tried to tell them that if they could jump off the organ bench, they could SURELY jump into a swimming pool. No such luck.)

But some nice young man from Texas came and bought it today. Jim listed it on the internet. We'd listed it several places the past few months, and were beginning to think we weren't going to be able to sell it. But then this guy emailed. He lives near Dallas and left in the middle of the night to be at our house between 8 and 9 this morning! He offered to get there earlier, but Jim assured him 8-9 am on Saturday morning was quite all right. :)

Anyway, this guy seemed VERY thrilled to receive it. He commented on it being in excellent condition and I couldn't help but think "that's because no one's played it in about 4 years!"

So now it's gone. It was a bit sad, but I knew it needed a new home. I also know this guy will give it a great home and probably utilize it to its full potential! That's exciting for me! It's a good organ that deserves to be played.

And now the fun begins.....what do we do with the proceeds?