The Accordion Case

My brother Rendal is 3½ years older than me. When I was about 3 or 4 we were playing upstairs while mom and dad were downstairs playing music. Dad played the guitar and mom played the accordion. They left the accordion case upstairs, and for a couple of small kids like Ren and myself, it looked like a good place to hide. Ren tried to get me to get inside the case, but I  wasn’t sure that’s what I wanted to do, so he offered to get in first to show me what I should do. He got inside the accordion case and told me to close it. I could not get it completely closed , so he told me to sit on top of it., I did. While sitting on top of the case I reached down with my tiny hands and pushed both latches, and heard them “click”. Evan as a small child, I felt something was wrong with what we had done, so I knelt down to open the case, It would not open. All I could hear from my bother was a muffle, and I began to cry and say “me tant get it open” me tant get it open” . Mom and dad heard my cries, and realizing something didn’t sound right, they came upstairs and saw the situation quickly. They opened the accordion case and There was Ren, white as a sheet.
I have always wondered, what would have happened if I had gotten into that accordion case like he wanted me too. Hmmmmm, I wonder, do you think I would have been rescued?  Oh yes, my dear brother would never leave me inside an accordion case, would he?

Added by my daughter (Carole Anne Casteel Anderson)
 posted on Facebook 9/9/2017

When my mom and uncle Rendal G Rutledge were little, my uncle got in an accordion case and mom closed the lid. When she couldn't get the lid open, she started yelling "me can't get it open!" My grandpa heard them and went in and opened the lid just in time.  

So, it seems only logically that we would haul an accordion case across the US for Uncle Rendal's memorial service. My uncle Rendal was one of a kind and this crazy case has been a source of humor this entire trip from checking this crazy thing in at the airport to opening it and finding everything broken to hearing mom talk about memories.