In 1998, four years into my life as a single mother, I bought a used upright piano for my daughter. It’s the closest I’ve ever come to feeling like I could fly. For two years, from age 9, Cait ...

We couldn't afford a new piano. I appealed for a secondhand model on the neighborhood-networking site Nextdoor. A few people sent me photos of their "well-loved" — and, dare I say, ugly — pianos.