Maureen McNair

I have a tiny Swarovski crystal miniature piano that I gave to my grandmother for her 90th birthday. The gift made no sense because Swarovski miniatures are collectibles, and she did not collect them…and certainly at age 90 she wasn’t going to start. But I gave it to her because when I was in 4th and 5th grade, I used to go over to her house and practice piano every Monday night.

My mom signed me up for piano after school every Tuesday even though we didn’t have a piano at home. I was supposed to practice daily, but, of course, I would wait until the night before my lesson to go to my grandma’s and then frantically practice.

I hated those piano lessons, but I loved going over to her house. She was a great cook, and being from a family of ten kids, it was so much fun to have dinner with my grandma and grandpa once a week by myself. They made me feel so special. My grandmother would make me a “cocktail” (7-Up with a cherry) and put it on a coaster on the piano. She and my grandpa would have a beer in the kitchen while she made dinner. After practice, we would eat together and then she would drive me home.

That’s why at her 90th birthday I presented her with this tiny piano. When she died at age 99, my mom told us to feel free to take from her house whatever we had given to her over the years. I found that little piano in her china cabinet and brought it home.