A Handmade Treasure

Some of the greatest gifts are handmade ones. This gift was not given to me. It was given to someone with the name of Annie and apparently a long time ago. This was one of my treasures that I found one day while I was rummaging around at yard sales and antique barns and I really don't recall where or when I came across it. I know it was handmade because it is hand-carved and the hearts are not the exact size and shape and the painting along the edge was obviously by hand as well. I picked this up the other day to take a closer look and noticed that on the inside the name "Annie" was carved. Someone took a lot of time and effort to make this for Annie and here I have it in my possession. I wonder about the music that was made on this little instrument. I imagine a little girl sitting in her bedroom spending many hours by herself playing this, or maybe entertaining her grandpa who perhaps made it for her.... who knows? I am not even sure what kind of instrument this really is. Maybe one of you reading this knows....It is missing two strings but is supposed to have four. At any rate, I am sure that Annie treasured this dearly and made beautiful music with it.