As I turned to move my harp cart to the side, I let go of my harp. Seconds later, the royal blue transport cover quickly came into my peripheral vision, the knee block heading straight for the curb. Why couldn’t I catch it? Why did I let go? Why is this happening to me??
With help from bystanders, I picked up my harp and loaded it into my car. I was stunned and immediately drove to a fellow harpist’s house for comfort, letting the damage behind the cover go unknown for the next 4 hours. “Harps fall, and they are fine. . . Right?” After I had eaten way too many chocolate chip cookies and convinced myself that my harp was fine, I drove home, took a deep breath, uncovered my harp. . . .
And burst into tears. My harp was broken. The impact left disgusting scuff marks and a nasty half-inch wide crack in the knee block. I stood there in hysterics, trying to push the knee block back together with brute force to close up the gap in the crack that exposed the raw insides of the unfinished wood. I decided it wouldn’t work and called my close harp friends, my parents, and Megan Hoeflicker at Virginia Harp Center. Thank. Goodness. For. Insurance.
I had to wait two excruciating days to call Anderson Group Insurance and Lyon and Healy. I also had to wait a WEEK for the weather on the East Coast to warm up enough to safely ship it to Chicago! A month later, work has begun on my Ebony Style 30 for a full recovery.
Moral of this story: If you don’t have insurance for your harp, get it now!! I also feel so so lucky to be a part of such a strong and supportive community of harpists. So many harpists have reached out to me who understand what it means go through such a tragedy. Loading a loaner harp for my first gig after the fall felt like an affair! It’ll be another 3-4 months before I get my harp back, at least I will get her back!
Has your harp fallen? What happened? You’re not alone!
