Smithsonian Item

Blog Prompt: Friday Aug. 10 is the anniversary of the Smithsonian Institute. If you could put one item in the Smithsonian (national Museums in Washington DC), what would you want preserved for future generations?

After careful thinking, I believe I would like to see my accordion put in the Smithsonian. I only know one other person personally who plays the accordion and he is in his 70s. I recently started to play my accordion once a week during lunch at a local nursing home. I played some sacred songs and was thrilled when I heard some of the residents singing the songs while I played. It gave me such a wonderful feeling! You always hear of people playing the piano or an organ or a band or symphony instrument but not many accordion players. I remember growing up watching the Lawrence Welk show and my parents hoping that I would someday be as good as the one on TV. I also remember wishing that I wasn't the only one in my age group (I started when I was 4) who played an accordion because all of my other teenage friends were playing the "cool" instruments. I eventually taught myself the guitar and I took organ lessons but after all these years I have come back in a full circle to the accordion. I'm not worried about what other people think anymore and can really enjoy playing my accordion. In the past few years I have been asked to play in different homes during the Christmas Tour of Homes and I have played for friends who were very sick. I realize that this instrument is easier to bring along than a piano or an organ and now I am proud of playing a different instrument than most people. I imagine that playing the accordion will become a lost art.