Thankful for Piles of Joy
The She-Shed is looking a little cluttered lately, I’m not going to lie. I have work coming out of my ears and as I set aside items for people, I have made more than a few piles of stuff. I am truly grateful for the work and so I have decided that these are not piles of stuff but rather piles of joy.
They’re more than a big to-do list in physical form to me. Each item I work on represents a piece of someone else’s life story. Here are some examples:
There are several new babies outfitted and swaddled in blankets, many of them firstborns. There is no purer joy than that. As I send them out, I reminisce about those early days when gifts, flowers and well wishes flooded in, along with the unfortunate lack of sleep.
There are 2 chihuahua’s wearing Mizzou bandanas with their names, and how could you forget Harley the goldendoodle in his birthday tie? Two masks are about to be deployed overseas in the Army and the Navy. Soft bath towels were given to a woman undergoing chemo. A family chair from 1949 was lovingly restored. Beachwear was personalized for a milestone birthday trip. Grandkids are about to open heartfelt gifts from their Nanas and Pops. T-shirt quilts are coming as surprises for college kids doing their best to cope with all the campus Covid regulations and infection rates.
It’s been a hard year to be sure. All we can do is choose how we react to realities we simply cannot change. So put on the holiday music, love and enjoy those you can be with even if there are others you cannot. Get creative, learn a new hobby, open your own She-Shed, why not? There’s a lot of joy yet to embrace -- You may just have to look under a few piles to find it.
Happy Thanksgiving from the She-Shed!
