Chicago area family seeks to reunite with late father's tuba
BARTLETT, Ill. (CBS) – A family in west suburban Bartlett is desperately trying to track down a tuba.
They have no idea what it's worth, but the musical instrument means everything to them. CBS 2's Noel Brennan had the story.
Fathers have a unique gift of making the family laugh.
Brad Baker cracked smiles with a sound that filled the house and never left his daughter's head. She called him "a funny dude."
"When I was growing up, he would definitely try to embarrass me in front of my friends and, you know, we would have sleepovers, and he would wake us up at 6 a.m. playing 'Reveille' on the tuba," said Chelsea Baker.
The younger Baker put up with her dad's tuba.
Linda Baker accepted it along with the marriage vows.
"There were times where I have to go elsewhere," Linda said.
Both would give anything to hear Brad play again.
"He passed away about three years ago," Chelsea said.
Earlier this month, Linda held a garage sale at her home in Bartlett and when a man inquired about old instruments, she agreed to part with her husband's tuba.
"And I was like, 'What? You sold his tuba?'" Chelsea said. "Like, are you kidding me?"
It was sold on a Thursday morning. For how much, Linda doesn't have the heart to tell her daughter, but neither can put a price on getting it back.
"It's just a lot of memories, and there's a lot of things of his that I'm more than willing to part with, but that one for me was, you know, just a little special," Chelsea said.
Linda added, "Had I known she wanted to keep it, I never would've let it go."
But now, most of Bartlett knows the story.
"I went to Facebook, and it was shared, I mean, about 60 times, which is like Bartlett viral," said Chelsea. "Nothing crazy."
The Bakers believe they have the name of the man who bought the tuba.
"It's not like he did anything wrong," Chelsea said.
They hope he'll consider selling it back to help turn a sour note into something sweet.
"No matter what, we still have the memories," Linda said.
The Bakers said they're willing to pay the man more than they charged him for the tuba. If nothing else, they just want to have a conversation with him so he knows how much the instrument means to the family.