A Special Space...

            For quite some time, Todd and I have considered creating an office area in our home. Now that I’m doing a lot of writing, an office seems to make good sense - a place for me to spread out my paperwork, a place for file cabinets and shelving units – basically a writer’s dream come true! (but with a door that can shut out the messiness of the reality of the writer’s dream – you know - when people come over.)

It’s not that we don’t have ample space. Our daughter, Megan, has been married and vacated from her bedroom for more than three years already.  It’s just that at first it seemed wrong, you know? …like somehow by keeping the area bare and empty, we were acknowledging that she lives 1,000 miles away and, most of all, that we miss her… sort of a shrine, but with no pictures or awards or memorabilia – just empty space. (I know, worst shrine ever! Right?)

Knowing it would be right and even healthy to “move forward” and begin using Megan’s once-bedroom once again, Todd and I started to progress very slowly. About a year ago (See? No need to hurry here…) Todd began the project by painting her walls. The deep blue and bright yellow colors that she’d chosen for herself at age 15 only required three heavy, thick coats of our own preferred color choice: pale grey. (As a side note here I must mention that back in 2011, when Megan & Joe bought their own home, they were also confronted with two bedrooms that badly needed painting – one bright pink, the other bright blue. Right there and then she apologized to her dad for ever having chosen the blue and the yellow. Live and learn – what else can we do? (besides always choosing paint in pale colors, that is…)

Finally, just a couple of weeks ago, Todd and I moved our desk and office materials into her old room. It was kind of fun – boxing up supplies, cleaning and dusting, recreating a space that is now a true joy to occupy. It amazed me how much “stuff” had accumulated in the house because of my new hobby/profession. Aren’t certain hobby/professions messy? I literally had stacks of papers from all of my writing classes and projects strewn all around.

Since the move, I’ve gradually been sorting through everything and getting organized. I’m purging old files and creating new folders. Drawer space is opening up and boxes are disappearing from the floor. It’s a good feeling. I’m finding old writing projects that, possibly with a bit of tweaking, still hold merit. I can’t wait to get started.

But you know what the neatest thing about all of this is – something I never could have predicted? I can now sit at my desk, in the room where my daughter grew up, look out of her window, and think about her. It makes me wonder. How many discussions do you suppose we had in this room? Sure, we argued some - who doesn’t? But we also had a million heart-to-heart talks – plenty of tears, but more laughs than I could ever count. In fact I’m getting teary (but laughing too) as I’m writing this.

I now believe that keeping her old room vacant would have proved to be a big mistake. By taking the slow-but-steady steps to move forward, by providing this useable space for me to continue to create, I actually feel closer to Megan than I ever would have if this room remained an empty shriney shell.

Last summer, as I worked through the process of self-publishing my first book, “Five Fingers, Ten Toes…” Megan sent me a lovely birthday gift. It’s a plaque engraved with my author name, the book’s title, and one of the Bible verses from the writing. The note said, “For your new office.”

And now, the plaque is finally in its designated home.