When you play a board game, there’s often a marker that becomes “you” for the duration of the contest. In real life, sometimes a person has a marker, an object that tells the world who you are.

My husband’s was chosen for him at an early age. It’s not something that most eight-year-olds would choose, and he fought it for many years. When he was finishing high school, he told his father he didn’t want it any more. His dad, who had the same marker, said that if he put it down, he was never to pick it up again.

It was a wise thing for a father to say, because my soon-to-be husband took the attitude, “I’ll show you!” He picked up the marker and never put it down again. It is what the Italians call a “fisarmoncia,” the accordion.

When we met, I thought it was cute that he played the accordion. Few people in our “cool” generation had the guts or the talent to admit to playing, let alone play in public. But everywhere he went, he brought happiness with his squeezebox, and people who saw him never forgot him.

I learned this when we moved here from Montana 32 years ago. Someone stopped him on the street to ask, “didn’t I see you playing the accordion in a parade in Conrad, Montana?” Now, Lenny was raised in San Francisco, and had only been in Montana a few months before we met. I did a double-take when Lenny said, “That was me!” I got the picture that this marker could make our life very interesting.

Last weekend we went to a joyous wedding. I figured we would know a lot of people, because the groom is the son of Lenny’s music partner, Tom Falcone, and his wife Sue (Sundstrom) Falcone. The guys have played together for more than 15 years, and during that time, our circles of friends have intersected many times. I’m convinced that the Falcone/Sundstrom families know just about everyone in the whole world.

Lenny and Tom serenaded the bride and groom, and afterwards a young man came up to introduce himself. He was the son of other old friends whom we had not seen in more than 20 years. He saw Lenny’s name in the program, but the accordion confirmed his identity. It was a treat to get acquainted again.

Lenny and I both have other markers that proclaim our identity in various aspects of our lives, but sometimes it’s really handy to have one that is so obvious. We’ve made friends and reconnected with others through his music. And that’s the coolest part of playing the accordion.

Patty Luzzi has lived on the Eastside for 32 years. Readers can contact her at pattyluzzi@yahoo.com.