I often ask myself – if there was ever a fire in my house (touch wood), what would I take? My usual answer would always be: a file containing important documents in one hand, and my emotional side would say irreplaceable photo albums in the other hand. Ok, maybe a few hands, with the number of albums I have, but you get my drift.
Well the San Jose Mercury News interviewed four people who had to answer that very question for real, with the fires that raged through North Carolina this summer. The last person, Luke MacLelan, answered, “his grandfather’s guitar”.
The 1958 Martin guitar belonged to his late grandfather, Dave Stogner, who played the country-western circuit and is in the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
With the swirling ash blowing in, Luke ran upstairs and opened the closet. He pushed aside the clothes and pulled out the sturdy black case.
“It hasn’t been played in years and years and it held the tune perfectly,” Luke said.
He has no plans to return it to his parents’ house, which was spared. “I’m keeping it here,” he said. “It’s the only thing I have from him.”
What about you? Are your instruments precious enough to you that you’d brave ash and embers to save them from a fire? Maybe you might get lucky and your axes might survive the blaze…
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In a fire, I would take the cat rather than my guitar. My conscience wouldn’t allow me to do otherwise.