Honoring Your Past

I’m writing this because today I came to tears thinking about this wood.

This walnut for my new desk is from my aunt and uncles home in Ohio. It was their kitchen counter for a few years….4? 5? I can’t be exact. When they decided to downsize this counter, my father asked my uncle if we could repurpose it for my two-tiered front desks. As you can see, the bottom is the new wood, and the upper is still the plastic blue. Ick.

Here’s the crazy memory part that brought tears to my eyes this morning. Every morning and every evening, I set my intentions, say what I’m grateful for, what’s going to/what has happened. I was thinking about this beautiful new desk I get to create AMAZING things on for the women of the world.

And then it happened. My uncle told me this wood came from my grandparents house. He and my dad, and their brothers, grew up playing around these trees. As grandkids, we all played and explored in these trees. They provided us shade, hiding spaces, and comfort. I walked with my grandparents through these trees.

After they passed, my father and my uncle had some trees cut and planed for flooring in their homes (which is so beautiful) and other things, like a kitchen counter.

Now here it sits, in my studio. A dream I’m pursuing because of my love of helping women. The trees that I grew up around each day in the warm days. Chasing my cousins. Hiding from our parents. Learning about nature, plants, and animals from my grand mother. I love lily of the valley because it grew under this tree in my grandma’s garden. This tree, now this wood, has been with me my entire life.

What an honor to have grandparents who loved and nurtured the earth, my dad, and me. Who taught us to respect our environment, things, and each other with the utmost care. To pass on treasures to new generations. Thank you grandma and grandpa, mom and dad, for your love, lessons, and kindness.

Who would have thought that the tree I leaned up against as a young girl, would still be supporting me so many years later to create the visions I dream of.