The images from the historic flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey in Texas are heartbreaking – hundreds of thousands of people lost their homes and everything in them.
One resilient Texan went viral after video of him playing the piano amid the heavy flooding hit social media.
READ: Sweet Couple Refuses to Stop Being Awesome After Losing EVERYTHING in Hurricane Harvey
In the video, Friendswood resident and pastor Aric Harding sits at the piano, expertly playing it as waist-deep floodwaters ripple in the background.
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Harding, a father of seven, had returned to his home, one of the 350,000 destroyed after Hurricane Harvey hit in August, to retrieve some of his children’s belongings, ABC News reported. He then stopped at the piano, which belonged to one of his sons, and had his friend record him as he played.
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Harding said he did it to lift his children’s spirits and show his son that the piano was still working.
“For us, it’s a piece of music being this universal language for everyone. It’s always been a big part of my life. My family’s always been very musical,” he told KTRK. “From the moment we get up in the morning to the moment we go to sleep, we’ve got music going on in our house.”
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The moment was unplanned, especially among the chaos the hurricane caused, Harding said.
“It was kind of the first time for me that I had sat down and been still, you know since the storm. And so it was, it was an unintentional special moment,” Harding said.
In September, Harding announced that the family’s beloved piano had been played for the last time.
“The strings are all rust,” Harding said at the time. “The bass boards are starting to separate. The sound board is starting to separate. I think this may be it for the piano.”
Singer and pianist Vanessa Carlton was so touched by the video that she made it her own personal mission to get the Hardings a new piano.
This story is so important. Is there a way I can get his contact info? I'd like to get him a replacement piano if this one doesn't make it.
— 𝕍 𝕒 𝕟 𝕖 𝕤 𝕤 𝕒 ℂ 𝕒 𝕣 𝕝 𝕥 𝕠 𝕟 (@VanessaCarlton) August 31, 2017
'Beauty in the suffering': His house submerged in water, he sits at… @yamahapianos we need to get him a piano. https://t.co/VSVoj8TzsY
— 𝕍 𝕒 𝕟 𝕖 𝕤 𝕤 𝕒 ℂ 𝕒 𝕣 𝕝 𝕥 𝕠 𝕟 (@VanessaCarlton) August 31, 2017
“She [Carlton] literally just calls me one morning like, ‘Hey, this is Vanessa,'” Harding said. “To have that kind of generosity, you know, to come about, that’s just one piece of the generosity that has happened not only for us but for other people in this area.”
The family received the piano on Saturday, and Harding’s son, Rylan, said he is blessed to be practicing again.
“Just being blessed to even have the chance to own one of these is amazing,” Rylor said.
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When you follow CNN and you see your name in the story and immediately think you’re in trouble……but no! Love you Hardings. Happy new year! @CNN @YamahaMusicUSA https://t.co/QHB88bKxnd
— 𝕍 𝕒 𝕟 𝕖 𝕤 𝕤 𝕒 ℂ 𝕒 𝕣 𝕝 𝕥 𝕠 𝕟 (@VanessaCarlton) December 30, 2017
Harding’s video caused such an outpouring of generosity that others have also donated pianos to him and his family, he said. They plan on donating them to other residents in the area who also lost their pianos, as well as piano students in need.
“Hopefully, we can keep passing this forward a little bit,” he said.
The Hardings are almost finished rebuilding their home, almost four months after the hurricane hit. There’s still much on their to-do list, but the arrival of the piano brought a “sense of completion” to the ordeal.
“It’s a little piece of normal coming back,” Harding said.
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(H/T: ABC News)