Many years ago I had a piano tuning client who had two young daughters taking piano lessons. The girls were doing quite well and their dad had me out to tune and service the piano several times a year. Then, dad lost his job. Every few months I would phone and see if his employment situation had improved and to see if he was ready to have me come out to take care of the piano. Things did not improve as more than a year passed. I called him a few weeks before Christmas and insisted that he allow me to come and take care of the piano at no charge. I knew how much his daughters enjoyed playing the piano and I was also concerned that the instrument was deteriorating. We agreed on a date. When I arrived, he was hard at work decorating the family Christmas tree. We chatted as we both worked at our separate tasks and he told me how much he appreciated my kindness. He shared that his mortgage was many payments behind and that he was hiding his car in a neighbors garage to fend off the repo man. A little later he unpacked a carton containing Lionel trains and began setting them up under the Christmas tree. Being a life long train collector, I immediately noticed that he had some extremely valuable items. I asked him if the trains held any sentimental attachment for him and he informed me that they had belonged to an uncle who years ago gave them to him rather than trash them. I gave him the name and address of a reputable train dealer I knew just a few miles away and urged him to get an offer on the trains. He called me a few days later to tell me he was sending me a check for my piano work because the dealer paid him enough to catch up on all his bills plus a few thousand dollars to spare! Lionel trains had come to the rescue. He called me again just after the new year to tell me that one of the many places he had sought employment hired him and he was back to work.
