Shelves

Have you ever stopped to think about all the shelves in your lifetime that you've put things on? Wooden shelves, wire shelves, even metal shelves, they all serve the same purpose-to hold our lives. They are carefully crafted, meticulously dusted, and routinely gazed at. They become our memories as we age. 

Growing up, my dad built us a bookshelf one year for Christmas. My brothers and I knew what he was building. We'd all snuck down to the basement to peek even though we were told not to. BECAUSE we were told not to. Christmas morning the mysterious present was unveiled under a blanket. We all three acted surprised, of course. It was beautiful. Stained to match the trim of our family home, it was soon covered in books. Little Golden books, my older brother's romance novels, and countless photo albums. The shelves proudly held our Webster's dictionary, my piano lesson book, and every Little House on the Prairie book printed. It was at the bottom of the stairs heading into the living room. It was a constant in my life. Now, it's in my bedroom holding my jeans and sweaters. 

In college, I had one of those plastic block shelving units. The purple blocks clicked together to form three tall squares. They held my towels and bathroom caddy on the bottom, snacks and dishes in the middle, and I'm not gonna lie, I can't quite remember what was in the top block. That was twenty-three years ago. I remember that shelving unit saved my lack of space issue in my brief stent at dorm life. 

Now, as a forty-one-year-old empty nester, I have several different things on shelves in my home. Alcohol (sorry Ma!), picture frames filled with family adventures, board games, books, random trophies, camping gear... All these things make up my life.

My favorite shelf at the moment is the one in this blog's photo. It's holding my psychological thriller books and some of the notebooks I write in. Oh, and our motorcycle fund jar that's full of pennies and hair ties. This is life, real life, and sometimes I'm still in awe that I'm a published author! Every single day I see this shelf and I'm reminded that good things do come to those who go for it!