I make it a habit to change guitar strings on a regular basis. It’s something my daddy taught me how to do when I was a teen. There is nothing like the sound of a guitar with a new set of strings. Chords sound better….strums are fuller….finger-picking is cleaner and brighter….songs are fresher. A new set of strings will even spark creative thinking and listening to the chords and possible songs begin to surface. In the last couple of years, daddy would ask me to change his guitar strings for him; or, I would just show up with a set of strings for his birthday and put some new strings on for him. Maybe it was just to see him smile when he strummed his guitar with new strings, but I enjoyed the chance to change the strings for him.
This evening I was changing the strings on my daddy’s guitar; a Gibson Dove. Yes, it sounded so much better….I knew that would happen. This time though, things were a little different. This time, there was no creative process leading me to new chord patterns and possible songs; this time, the strings brought back memories. I remembered the first time daddy showed me how to finger a chord and strum the strings to produce a sound. I remembered all the practicing, the sore fingers, and daddy asking me what I had been learning. I could remember learning songs all the way through, and daddy wanting me to play them for him.
Daddy gave me my first guitar….his Gibson J45. I was so overwhelmed when he did that, because it had been his first guitar. I cherished that guitar, because it was his. I bought a better case for it. I had a local luthier do repairs to it if I messed anything up on it. Even though he gave it to me, I still considered it his guitar.
Now I am holding his last Gibson in my arms. Yes, songs he played and songs I played come to mind, but I found myself not really thinking about the songs and the sound of the new strings. I realized I was holding his guitar…and I am no longer changing strings for him. There’s an emptiness and a sadness. This is daddy’s Dove I’m holding…
….and, in my heart….I am holding him.
