WWPD?

Today I sent an exploratory email to a vintage saxophone dealer in Waterloo, Iowa. I am considering selling my mom’s horn in order to have cash for a home purchase. We’re approved based on credit history and income, and we can get down payment assistance through a program with the State of Washington, but we still have to have some cash to close.

Harry says don’t sell. But this saxophone is worth real money. And it’s not being used—and hasn’t since I played with the One More Time Around Again Marching Band back in 2005. Ten years is a long time for an instrument to sit in a closet with no hope of being played anytime in the near future. Am I supposed to wait for the next generation of girl saxophonists to play this horn, or can I use it to further my quality of life?

What would Phyllis do?

My mother was a little sentimental. After all, she herself saved this horn for twenty years before I played it. But she was also practical. When she inherited some property from her uncle, she sold and built a house.

I put this question to a group of friends (Grinnell College alumni on Facebook) and they overwhelmingly said I should sell. Instruments deserve (and need) to be played. A saxophone is not my mother; it’s just a thing. If a home of my own is important to me, then I should go for it.

I dread talking to Teresa about this. She’s the third generation to play this horn. But she only played it for a year or two before switching to tenor when my dad gave her my Uncle Rick’s vintage sax. I think of that tenor as hers, the alto as mine. And if she wanted to sell the tenor to do something significant, I would support that. Of course, I never played it and I certainly wasn’t as close to my dad’s younger brother as I was to my mom, so the comparison is not really fair.

What would Phyllis do?

Well, she probably would call her last remaining family member to verify that she can’t get the money anywhere else. Back when my dad died in 2007, his wife mentioned that she hoped she could give me some money toward the down payment for a house. Hoping to do something in the past is not the ability to do something in the present, however. I did write her a letter asking about it, but I haven’t followed up with a phone call. This is my only other avenue to get the money we need and it would be short-sighted not to pursue it. (This will probably come up again, but let me state here: I really hate making calls.)

So wish me luck.