Happy New Year!
We’re halfway through January, which means those New Year’s resolutions might be feeling a little less important than they did a few weeks ago. We’re all feeling that post-Holiday slump, which is why we wanted to share some inspiration with our The Piano Place family. We promise it’s a story that will help brighten even the gloomiest January day.
Back in December we decided to host a very special giveaway. We were looking for a deserving family who could benefit from a free piano and a month of free lessons. We know that there’s often a barrier to accessing music education, and we wanted to find a family who felt passionate about music but needed a little help getting started. And just when we thought our giveaway couldn’t get any sweeter, some wonderfully kind and generous families offered to donate additional months of lessons so that our giveaway winners could fully enjoy learning their new instrument.
There were so many incredible entries in our giveaway, and it felt nearly impossible to pick the right winner. But we couldn’t stop thinking about a particularly touching entry from Karrie Hewlett. Karrie entered our giveaway on behalf of her three amazing kids, who skipped the usual wish-list to Santa asking for toys and electronics, and asked for a family piano instead.
In her entry, Kerri told us about mornings spent cooking in the kitchen, blasting her family’s favorite songs and passing on her love of music to her family. She told us about a trip to check out instruments at a local piano store with her excited kids, all while simultaneously wondering how to make this very big Christmas dream become reality. For Karrie, our giveaway seemed too good to be true. But, she entered anyway, and kept hoping that somehow, she’d find a way to magically make a piano appear under the tree in time for Christmas.
Little did Karrie know that we had read her entry, and felt incredibly touched by her desire to provide meaningful experiences and a love of music for her children. We called to let her know she was our winner, and made arrangements to deliver a beautiful piano straight to her door. (Along with the six months of free lessons, of course!)
After learning she’d won our giveaway, Karrie kept the good news a surprise until a few days before Christmas, when we delivered a brand-new piano to her elated family. It was the highlight of our year to watch her kids realize that their big wish came true—the beautiful piano sitting outside their doorway was theirs to keep! As Karrie put it so perfectly, “We all need someone who believes in us, and help us achieve our dreams.” We’re grateful we could be part of her dream-team, and look forward to seeing her family join us for lessons at The Piano Place this year.
