Dinner was going badly. Evelyn Greenhough looked at her son in law across the table and tried to suppress the frustration and anger she felt. She knew it was unworthy, but Michael was not the only person dealing with their grief. Evelyn had lost almost every person she had ever loved, first her son John in the war, then her husband and now Kate. Kate had been her little girl, who had grown up into a lovely, gracious woman and become one of her best friends. Evelyn felt the tears welling up behind her eyes and bit her lip in an attempt to keep them from spilling out. Poets and ministers talked about shared grief making the burden lighter and bringing people closer but Evelyn didn't believe that was true. Sometimes the shared burden was so heavy that it pulled everyone down with its weight.

Each morning Evelyn forced herself to get up and face the day. She was determined not to give in to the grief that threatened to swallow her whole. She tried to remember the happy times with her family and make plans for a lonely future that terrified her. People admired her for getting on with her life, but it took all her energy.

Michael's grief frightened her. He was so lost and his misery threatened the stability she had worked so hard to achieve. Fear made her angry. She wanted Michael to move on, remove Kate's clothes from the closet and put her sewing basket away out of sight. She wanted him to start painting again and pay more attention to her grandchildren. Over and over she reminded herself to be patient and that Michael needed time. But she worried about the children, especially Annabel who seemed to be taking on more and more responsibility as the family caregiver.

Michael, looking over at his mother in law felt an immense sense of guilt. Evelyn was one of the bravest people he had ever met, but he couldn't understand how she could just get on with life. She had sold her house and would soon move in to a new row of town houses going up a few blocks away. While the house was being finished Evelyn and her sister were going abroad and would return in the spring. It made sense for her to sell the big old house and move into something smaller, but Michael didn't know how she could let go of all the furnishings and keepsakes of a lifetime. The thought of giving up any of Kate's things was unbearable. Her sewing basket was still in the library where she had left it on the day she had finally admitted that she was too ill to be downstairs. He should be doing better. Kate would be the first to tell him that. Seeing Evelyn making plans for the future made him feel worse and that made him resentful.

The tension between them was having an affect on the rest of the group. The three children were unnaturally subdued and Jane was casting about in her mind for a topic that would break the silence. "So Evelyn," she asked, "how are things going with the move? Did you find a new home for the piano?"

Evelyn's face brightened at once. "Yes," she said happily. "Jane I must tell you all about it. It's the most marvelous thing..."

Annabel burst into tears and Georgie hot with anger shouted at his grandmother. "That was Mother's piano! You can't give it away!"

"Georgie!" Said Michael. "Stop that at once! Don't speak to your grandmother that way!"

"But it was Mother's!" said Georgie. Annabel had already fled the table and they heard the nursery door when it slammed shut. Even John was upset, though being of a calmer temperament he wasn't as dramatic as his siblings.

"No," said Jane slowly trying to diffuse the emotions a bit. "It was your grandmother's piano. Your mother took lessons on it when she was a little girl, but it has always been at your Nana's house."

"No, it was Mother's," insisted Georgie. He was starting to cry too. "She was going to bring it here so we could have lessons."

"But we have a piano," said Michael. "A big piano sitting in the library."

"Mother said it was too expensive to get it fixed," explained John. "She said someone came and looked at it and it cost more money than we had. She said Grandmother would let us have the one at her house and maybe we could sell the big piano and use the money for lessons."

"When did she say all this?" said Michael. "We never talked about it."

"Just before she got really sick," said John.

The three adults in the room looked at one another. Kate had refused almost all pain medication until the very last month, but towards the end she had been in agony. The doctor had given her opiates and she had been barely conscious at the end. She hadn't had a chance to talk to Michael or her mother.

"I'm so sorry," said Evelyn. "I had no idea."

"I didn't either," said Michael. "Why didn't one of you say something?"

"We just didn't," said John. "Lessons are expensive and we didn't know Nana would give the piano away."

"Well then, there's not much we can do about it now," said Michael. "Why don't you two finish your pudding and take some up to Annabel. We'll all come up and see you later."

"Yes Father," said John

They finished the meal in silence. Once the boys had left the table Evelyn sighed.

"I'm sorry Evelyn," said Michael. "That was unexpected. I know you've offered to give us the piano several times, but I didn't think we needed it."

"I feel so badly about this," said Evelyn. "Do you think the children truly want to take lessons?"

"I don't know," Michael replied. "They've never said anything to me about it and I've never seen any of them try to play our piano. Usually they're crawling underneath pretending it's a fort or a zoo."

"Well, there's nothing I can do about my piano," said Evelyn. "It's gone and the family I gave it to was very grateful. But what about lessons? I'd be willing to pay for those. In fact I've met the perfect teacher, and maybe the piano here can be fixed. I wonder what's wrong with it that Kate thought it was too expensive."

"I have no idea," said Michael. "I know it must need tuning, but other than that I don't know."

"I think you should wait and see if they're really interested before you spend too much money," said Jane. "It's been months and they haven't said anything. Maybe after a few lessons they'll realize they don't want to learn. I know I didn't."

Evelyn remained silent. Now that she had offered to pay for the lessons she felt that the children should commit to taking them for at least a year. On the other hand she had no idea how much repair the old piano needed. She knew Michael's budget was stretched and she didn't know how much she could contribute towards fixing the instrument and paying for the lessons too. She thought a moment about the nice young man who had found a home for her piano. He was used to teaching children who made do on all sorts of instruments. Surely he could look it over and see if it was good enough for the children to practice on.

It turned out that Annabel was the one who really wanted lessons. Evelyn had decided to be firm on one point. If she paid for lessons the children must practice. John, who was a practical child and liked schedules and railway timetables was very conscientious about how much time practice would take. He said he had to think about it. Georgie wasn't sure either, but since he was only six he was still pretty young.

So it was agreed. When Evelyn returned in the spring she would schedule lessons for Annabel and bring the teacher to the house to see the piano. John and Georgie could meet the teacher and see if they liked him. She was quite sure they would and that she would wind up paying for lessons for all three.

Evelyn wondered if she could get Jane there on the same day—not for lessons, just to meet the teacher. She smiled thinking about the young man and how he had found a home for her piano. She wished she had been able to tell the story. It really was a marvelous thing.