Karen is playing the violin again

Karen is married to our son Nathan, and they live in Portland.

An injury while riding her bicycle interrupted her play.

She worked for Nike at the time and rode her bicycle, rain or shine, to the Nike campus where she worked.

She rode about six miles a day and then hauled her bike aboard the transit for the rest of the way.

She got clipped by a car one day and injured the fingers on her hand. The injury interrupted her violin playing, so I enjoyed knowing that her fingers had improved to the point where she could play again.

A few years ago, she played on a regular basis and while visiting here would practice in the backyard. Neighbors enjoyed hearing her play and would comment on it.

That was before her bicycle accident. She then worked for Nike on the firm’s campus near Portland. She went to work on her bicycle, rain or shine for more than 15 years, a 13-mile trip from her house. She did about five or six miles on the bike and used the transit system lugging her bike aboard.

She was struck by a car a few years ago, injuring her fingers, and gave up playing the violin for a time.

She started playing the violin at a very early age and often played with a group in the Portland area. She plays on her Scottish grandfather’s violin, an instrument over 150 years old and made by an Italian violin maker.

So when I heard her practicing the other day I was surprised and pleased at the same time. Nathan went down the hall and opened the bedroom door so we could hear her practice.

She stopped playing after injuring her fingers, but through exercising she began playing again.

Her mother saw to it that music was always a priority in the home. She taught piano for years on the baby grand that was in the home.

Her grandfather immigrated to the United States from Scotland and played on the old violin.

Karen no longer works for Nike but would suffer a second bike accident when another bike slammed into her.

Now she is playing again, and we are enjoying hearing her play.

I asked if I could see the violin and hold it, and Karen let me. The violin has a marker inside telling who made it and the date it was made.

It is a beautiful instrument with the back having tiger stripe wood, as well as the side panels.

It was a good feeling holding an instrument so fine.