NEW PIANO KEY TO FAMILY’S RECOVERY
Friendswood clan given instrument after post-Harvey video goes viral
Aric Harding absentmindedly ran his finger over the raised, metal decal at the front of the piano, the maker’s name, Yamaha, etched into it.
For the first time, the Hardings’ family piano doesn’t have pencils jammed in it or dried slobber all over it, he said. In fact, the family’s seven kids will be the first to touch its shiny new keys.
“We usually get handme-downs,” Harding, a Friendswood pastor, said Friday as the new piano was being delivered. “This is so awesome.”
But it’s not the newness of the matte black piano that makes it so special. It’s the fact that the $7,000 gift from Yamaha, arranged by pop singer Vanessa Carlton, came to the family during their time of need.
Peter Giles, Yamaha spokesman, said Carlton brought the family’s plight to their attention and the company decided to donate a piano.
“This is the kind of endof-year giving Yamaha does, helping out someone in need,” Giles said.
Carlton, an American singer-songwriter whose “A Thousand Miles” earned a Grammy nomination for song of the year, could not be reached for comment.
Like many, the Hardings were forced from their Friendswood home by Hurricane Harvey’s floods, but their situation diverted surprisingly from the norm when Carlton got involved.
The singer contacted the family — and Yamaha — after viewing a video of Harding playing a made-up tune on the family’s upright piano as floodwater lapped around him.
The video went viral when Harding posted it on Instagram, but he originally filmed the private moment for his son, Rylor, to ease his homesickness.
In the days after the storm, Harding returned to his flooded home in search of items that would remind his children of better times. At the time, the Harding kids ranged in age from 5 to 13.
For the youngsters, he grabbed a favorite stuffed animal or a treasured doll. But Harding knew Rylor, the oldest of seven, would be worried about the piano
he cherished. There it sat near the front door, submerged in two feet of water.
Harding couldn’t drag the piano out of the house, he said, so he sat down to play a song.
It was a bittersweet moment for Rylor, now 14 — he was glad the piano still worked, he said, but he knew it wouldn’t survive.
“I was happy and sad at the same time,” Rylor said. Though Harding plays the piano — and did so in the video — they say Rylor is the avid player.
Four months later, all Rylor feels is happiness.
The teen could barely contain his excitement when the brandnew piano was delivered Friday. He quickly sidestepped his father to inspect it the moment the piano was placed among all the new items in the family’s home: new flooring, walls, paint and furniture.
“So many blessings have come out of this flood,” Rylor said after playing a piece he’s perfecting for a February competition.
It’s a relief for Rylor, who can now return to practicing with rigor. But for Harding, it’s much more than that.
The family is about 95 percent done with restoring their home, Harding said, and the piano is one of the last pieces of their recovery puzzle. Just moments after the instrument was delivered Friday, they already felt a sense of normalcy returning after months of chaos.
“Music has always been a part of our family, and for Rylor to have his identity back is a big deal,” Harding said. “We have a piece of the family back.”