Family Heirloom

We have inherited a family heirloom:  an antique violin.  This violin belonged to my great-grandfather (Rachel's great-great grandfather), Albert Hales.  According to a local violin maker, it was made around the turn of the century in either Austria or Germany.  It was factory made, meaning that individual people specialized in each part of the violin--one person would make the bridge, another carve the body, etc. 

Rachel has been playing the violin for three years now.  Her teacher told us it was time for her to upgrade to a nicer violin--to move beyond the student violin she had been playing.  My mom had this old violin sitting in a closet.  She asked us if we wanted it.  I jumped at the chance. 

A few weeks ago we took it to a local violin maker to see if it was worth repairing.  He told us, definitely YES.  We had to put a few hundred dollars into it to make it playable, but now Rachel has an amazing antique violin to play.  It has a wonderful, full, rich sound. 

I love that it carries with it a bit of family history too.