A musical time machine
Widower Geoff Clark has just one plea for the specialists in the repair barn: ‘Take me back in time.’
Geoff, 75, from Sunderland, arrives with a jukebox he bought 43 years ago, which holds a magical memory of his late wife.
He recalls shortly after buying the jukebox: ‘I met the beautiful Marie and, in 1978, we married. We couldn’t afford a reception so we had it in our dining room.
‘I played Moonlight Serenade by Glenn Miller. I wasn’t expecting it, but absolute magic happened as Marie and I cuddled each other and shuffled around… everything came together in that moment.’
Sadly, Marie died almost seven years ago of a brain tumour.
At first, Geoff couldn’t stand to play the jukebox or hear the Miller tune, it was too painful.
But eventually, he says: ‘I would put it on and sit at the bottom of the stairs and realise what I had for all those years… and that I’d lost it forever.’
When the jukebox stopped working, Geoff felt he had lost his connection with that magical moment and his late wife.
Having the iconic machine lovingly and painstakingly restored by audio expert Mark Stuckey and then playing Moonlight Serenade sees Geoff in tears – and awe – over the power of music.
‘It has the ability to take me back to that moment on our wedding day and the magic of holding her…’
Thrilled with the results, Geoff vows to take the music time machine home and put it back in the dining room. From its pride of place, he plans to blast out Moonlight Serenade.
‘I like to hear music loud, so maybe the whole street will hear it – to celebrate Marie one more time.’