also from the guest room
Today is Ash Wednesday, and this year more than one person has said it has caught them by surprise. Susan Cunningham writes, “I am grateful for the structure of the Church calendar—ready or not—that brings me to re-enter the desert of wandering and waiting…What am I invited to release or give up?” My daughter writes about cleaning off her desk in preparation and making physical and mental space for God to speak to her. And I continue with my room by room, closet by closet, drawer by drawer clean-out project. But even as I divest, I find those things that I am keeping and can’t quite part with yet.
During the Great Depression my grandparents moved their family into a small hotel in downtown Indianapolis. First my grandfather, and then my father and his brother operated the hotel for many years. The Pennsylvania Hotel building still sits on the corner of 11th and Pennsylvania Streets; however, in the 1960’s, my family sold it to the Methodist Church and it was transformed, first into the Lucille Raines Home for young professional women coming to the “big city” for work, and later the Lucille Raines Residence to provide housing for those individuals recovering from alcohol and drug addiction.
When the property was sold, my family took some of the dressers that had been in the hotel rooms. They were very sturdy, if not terribly attractive pieces of furniture….solid wood, whereas many of the pieces that are available today are made of pressed wood. I’m not sure what color this dresser was originally, but, unfortunately, the 1960’s were an era of painting and antiquing wood furniture, and not in appealing colors. Avocado green seemed to be one of the colors of the day.
As unattractive as it may be, I’ve managed to find a place for it wherever I’ve lived. I really don’t expect my children to keep it after I’m gone. But before they sell it or kick it to the curb on trash day, I’d like them to know the story behind why their mother held onto it for so long.
Love, Liz
With a coat of paint and some new knobs, this might not be that bad. Did I say that it was sturdy?
