Building Memories While Retrofitting

Combining two households means lots of duplicates and lots of treasures.

I’ve joked over the years that I like to go “shopping at Monna’s house” — meaning, I rummage through my Mom’s boxes looking for treasures, projects, inspiration, memories and occasionally a necessity.

Now that we’re all living together, I have immediate access to these items.

Two of the biggest treasures now reside in Flannery’s room: her great-great-grandmother’s dressing table built for a young bride by her groom, and her great-grandmother’s 100-year old antique bed frame.

Today I worked with my Dad putting together the bed frame. Note: old hardware and rails, while built well, do not last forever, nor do they fit new bed sizes. Hence, we’re still in the midst of the ongoing retrofitting project.

Tonight as I close my eyes, I’m grateful to be able to ask my Dad for help.

The power of this fact does not go unnoticed. The man who taught me to drill, hammer, chisel, and saw now stands by my side offering much needed guidance as I slowly put together this beautiful, old bed for my daughter. I need his presence and the strength of his love. And the depths of his knowledge — of all he’s already taught me, of the things I’ve forgotten, and of all I still have yet to learn.

Building precious memories and tucking them deep inside my heart.

♡ Annie

Originally published at http://www.jomafilms.com on August 22, 2020.