Chapter Spotlight: There Is Always a Way, in “Grow in the Dark” by Amy Love

Love’s connection to music began in childhood with a found treasure. “Ever since I discovered a missing piano key in a trash bag near the electric post at the age of six, I harbored a dream of owning a real grand piano of my own,” she recalls. Music became her emotional outlet: “Without expressing my feelings and emotions in words, music allowed me to express the unexpressed and buried feelings and thoughts that I wished only to keep for myself.”

Years later, on a friend’s suggestion to check eBay, Love’s dream inched closer to reality. “After a few days of searching, I found one listed for 500 dollars…Surprisingly, about a week later, I received a congratulatory email from eBay stating that I had won the Kimball baby grand piano.” However, the delivery quote of over $1,000 threatened to derail her plans.

Determined to find a solution, Love and her husband Gray decided to move the piano themselves. But the night before pickup, a crucial question arose: “The question crossed my mind of how much the piano weighed. I asked him, and his response was, ‘I have no idea.’” A quick internet search revealed the daunting truth—500 pounds.

While Gray immediately declared, “There is no way we are going to pick up this piano tomorrow,” Love refused to give up. “The thought of ‘there is always a way’ surfaced in my mind.” She turned to YouTube, searching for “two-man piano delivery” solutions. “I could have found reasons to limit myself, such as not being as big or strong as the man in the video. I chose to not focus on my size and believe If someone else could do it, so could we—this was a belief I always held since I was a child.”

Armed with creativity and determination, Love prepared meticulously: “Following the instructions in the video, I gathered a ladder from the boys’ bunk bed, placed two sofa cushions on it, and secured them with tape.” When they arrived at the seller’s house with their four young boys, the seller’s skepticism was clear: “Only two of you?”

Love’s confident response set the tone: “Don’t worry. I will guide you step by step. All you need to do is help us load the piano into the trailer.” Following her precise instructions, they successfully maneuvered the piano: “First, the son removed one leg from the front of the piano while the three of us held it. He then removed the other leg. Then, we lowered the piano onto the cushions, tightly wrapped with the ladder, which was on top of the four-wheeled dolly.”

The journey home brought its own drama when the piano lost balance on the ramp: “As we pushed the piano down the ramp, due to the speed, it lost its balance and fell on the side of the ramp.” Yet Love remained remarkably calm: “I guess I was trained since I was five by helping with the dumpling business and had accomplished many impossible tasks that no one believed I would achieve due to my age and size.”

The piano emerged undamaged and became a cherished family possession: “The piano of my dreams showed no signs of damage and was played by me and my four boys for years.” Its presence served as a constant reminder of determination’s power: “Every time the man I loved walked past the piano, he would shake his head and say, ‘I still can’t believe that the two of us managed to bring this baby grand piano home.’”

This achievement embodied Love’s lifelong philosophy: “In my 50 years of a roller coaster journey, the belief that ‘there is always a way’ guided me through countless seemingly impossible missions and brought dreams to life.” As she notes, “It’s not about the weight, it’s about finding the way.”

Discover more stories of determination and dream-chasing in “Grow in the Dark” by Amy Love. Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Google,  iTunes & Kobo.