Am I the only one who noticed in the article that his “wonderful family” STOLE HIS CELLO, had a replica made, and gave the old man the replica to play? And he never knew.
Obviously they see nothing wrong with this; in fact, they want to be congratulated for their treachery, the way they blather about it to the New York Times.
I’m pretty sure it’s called theft, conversion, and elder abuse, for starters.
I’ve heard of greedy kids, but this bunch takes the cake.
Maybe they were greedy or maybe their dad was unstable and they were concerned he would fall with it. If he damaged it he would be heartbroken.
There are a lot of greedy kids around. If only this were the worst example. I could tell you stories that would make your hair stand on end.
They were very disrespectful (at the very least) to their father in their actions regarding his beloved cello. Terrible.
It’s more likely that he used the replica cello as a practice instrument. I could see not wanting to use something so precious every day! And that might be what his daughter meant about why it was so sad he couldn’t tell the difference. Not that they were trying to set him up to look stupid.
Some time ago, Mr. Greenhouse had had an extensive restoration of his cello done to correct and stabilize some old repairs and problems. This was a very difficult and complicated restoration that took two years. The copy was made around that time, if I recall correctly, so that he would have something to play during this process.
So, I don’t think the children were trying to trick him with a fake to steal the original. Also, his insurance might not have covered having or playing the cello in certain situations, like at a vacation house or at a medical facility.