We have quite a musical family. I play the flute, and have started playing the piano, too; my brother Joris and sister Leen have actually followed piano classes (in my case it's self-education); Roel plays the guitar; and Thomas used to play the drums. Next, Leen, Joris, and myself all have sung in a choir.

Roel's girlfriend also plays the guitar (in fact, if I'm not mistaken, that is how they met). Now since she's finished guitar classes, she was interested in learning a different instrument, and chose the flute.

Last weekend, she arrived at our home with a flute she'd bought second-hand. Nothing too fancy—a Yamaha YFL-211SII, which is a pretty regular beginner's instrument—and asked me to have a look at it.

My initial feeling was Can I? Really?.

Living without a normal flute (and without the budget to buy a new one) for the past year hasn't been too easy. Even if I didn't play the instrument all that often when I still had it, I've always loved making music.

The instrument wasn't in perfect condition (one of the springs had come loose), but it wasn't anything I couldn't fix. I did play it for a while, and that was lovely.