Indy Feek turned 3-years-old in February and received a very special gift from her father Rory, a 1926 Steinway & Sons baby grand piano. While that gift may seem random for a youngster— it’s totally fate as you will soon learn.
As Rory explains, the family’s Tennessee farmhouse has quite the musical history. “In 1999, a few months after I bought this old farmhouse we live in, I started researching the family who built the house in 1870’s… And I came across an old history book from this area that said that Calvin and Sarah’s two youngest daughters, Mollie and Veva Hardison, were schoolteachers… but it also said they were well-known songwriters and that some of their songs were published in the 1890’s.”
That’s right, Joey and Rory Feek weren’t the first talented musicians to inhabit the rural property.
“How strange is that? That two sisters (who were in the late teens and early twenties at the time) were making music and writing songs in this farmhouse a hundred years before our family moved in and I started writing songs in it? For me, back then, it wasn’t just irony… it was clearly a sign that this was the house we were supposed to live in. Part of the beautiful, ‘magical’ story that God has given us,” mused Rory in his latest This Life I Live entry.
Mollie and Veva’s story spurred Rory to bring music back into the house via a vintage piano. But the new addition has another purpose as well.
“Joey and I want Indy to grow up loving music and learning to play an instrument… Another reason is because with all that’s happened in our lives, there hasn’t been any new music in the house for a long time, and having a piano sitting in the middle of the living room might encourage there to be some,” Rory revealed. “…and every evening before bedtime, Indy sits beside me and we ‘play’ together. I play chords down low and Indy pushes on the high keys while I tell her what notes they are. She smiles and giggles. It’s precious. I can play piano a little bit (a few chords, etc) but not much. Maybe that old piano will help me in some way too.”
What a neat story for Indy’s third birthday. Be sure to check out the rest of the entry to find out what else transpired on sweet Indy’s latest birthday!
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