Valentines Day Story – “I said ‘Yes’ on the Dance Floor”.
Valentines day greetings to all of you from The New England Accordion Connection & Museum Co. here in North Canaan, Ct !!
With Valentines Day fast approaching, I thought I would share a very touching and special story that involved an accordion. This one caught me by surprise, and it shows how deep some of the memories we have of the people who played for us in the Past.
I entitled this one as….”I said ‘Yes’ on the Dance Floor!”
Early on when I started collecting accordions for our museum, I would run want ads in local newspapers looking to buy accordions. On one occasion, I received a call from an older lady who told me that she had her husband’s accordion and she wanted to sell it. She said that he played semi-professionally but he passed away quite a few years earlier and she just wanted to pass it along.
I went to her home and she placed the accordion on a table. After I had played it, I asked her if she was sure she wanted to part with it. She assured me that she did, and we then agreed on a price. As I took the money out of my pocket and started to pass it to her, she suddenly looked up at me and said…. “Well, he really wasn’t my husband.”
I was puzzled, to say the least, but then she began to explain the situation. She said, “It was 2002 and we were at a dance. While on the dance floor he proposed to me, and I accepted. Well, 40 minutes later, on that same dance floor, he had a massive heart attack and died. But since I did say yes to him just a few minutes earlier, I always felt that he was my husband.”
This lady admitted that she would often play a few notes on the accordion just to assure herself that her husband was still nearby in her heart and memory. The sound of the accordion brought back the good memories she had of him, and of course her love for him. But she reassured me again that now it was time for her to move on.
In talking to many people about their memories of the accordion in their lives, I learned that once a person plays an accordion regularly, the sound it makes can actually become that person’s “second voice.” So, when that person is no longer with us, whenever accordion music is heard, it can be a strong reminder of the one who played an accordion in our past. It literally can become their second voice.
Over the course of my life, many people I have met have a habit of telling me their innermost concerns and thoughts. Sometimes I am at a loss for words or advice. For those times, I keep a few stone pocket crosses on me wherever I go. Whenever difficult stories, concerns and challenges come into our conversation, I will sometimes offer them one of these Christian pocket crosses. My wife and I have given out so many of them over the last 25 years that I guess you could say that we have a ministry.
And so, I did that now with this lady. Before I could explain the pocket cross to her, she tearfully snatched it from my hand, kissed and hugged me and said thank you at least 10 times to me! I don’t think even a million dollars would have pleased her more than receiving that cross. And I bet to this day she still remembers her “husband” whenever she hears an accordion being played.
Happy Valentines Day Everyone!!
From Paul Ramunni – 02/01/2024
The New England Accordion Connection & Museum Company in North Canaan, Ct !!
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