Sometimes you just gotta laugh.
I grew up with two pianos. Yep, two. My mom, a rather serious amateur pianist, started off with a Baldwin acrosonic, a small upright piano. It was a nice piano, and suitable for most people, but my mother wasn't most people.
So later on, she bought a Steinway. No, not one of those full-sized, nine foot, concert grands, but a simple, older upright. About twice the size of the Baldwin, it was an excellent piano, with incredible sound. We, of course, were not allowed to touch it.
About 10 years ago now, I moved out. I ended up living with my best friend not far from my parents' house. Initially, there were three of us: Craig, my brother Stanley, and I. After a while, though, Stanley moved out, and the basement room he had occupied was available.
I moved my recording studio down there, and my mom said I could have the Baldwin. (Not the Steinway, of course; My dad gave that to me later, as a wedding present.) Paul said he wasn't interested in it since he didn't have room for it. So Mom gave it to me.
After a while, I knew I would have to divest myself of the piano, and since none of the other siblings had a place for it, I asked Mom if I could give it to Craig's brother and sister-in-law, John and Gemma, (now my bother- and sister-in-law) for their child Cassie.
Mom thought that was a wonderful idea and endorsed it wholeheartedly.
So we lugged it over to their place, where it has been for the last four years. Both John and Cassie have played it over the years, and at some point Cassie will undoubtedly begin taking lessons.
Or so we thought.
Now, we hear a whisper coming down the grapevine suggesting that Stanley and Paul are going to demand that they give the piano to Stanley. Or, more accurately, that they are going to call Johnny to set up a time to come and collect it.
Okay, so not a big deal, right? All they have to do is say "bugger off" and not let them in. Well, yes, you might think that, and of course, legally, Paul and Stanley haven't got a leg to stand on -- without any documentation of ownership, I think that old cliche "possession is nine-tenths of the law" comes into play. Paul and Stanley would have to go to court and somehow prove that they have a valid claim to the piano -- very difficult to do. (At this point, they probably couldn't even prove that it is the same piano that was my mother's.)
So what's the problem? Well, Rachel used to live with John and Gemma. After we got married, naturally, she moved into my place. So Craig decided to move in in her stead. Alas, there are those that feel that Craig will, when John and Gemma are not at home, allow Paul and Stanley to come in and take the piano.
Me, I'm going to give Craig the benefit of the doubt, and assume he wouldn't do that. Still, however, I am not going to sit still and do nothing. Stanley is quite capable of breaking in and simply stealing it. (I have seen him steal from a church -- after becoming a Jesus freak.)
Of course, the problem is really John and Gemma's, but sometimes they are more inclined to sit back and let Life happen to them instead of getting up and doing something about it. Personally, it doesn't matter so much what happens to their possessions, but I would like to see Cassie take piano lessons on that piano.
And so would have my mother.