Just a Memory

The charming piece of wood furniture you see pictured above has survived ten moves with me over the years. Serving a different purpose each time, it’s held everything from baby toys to fitness equipment. Now painted white, the old wood continues to reveal itself underneath the chipped paint. No amount of tightening can take away its ricketiness and so, it’s time to bid adieu.

Before my moving companion is kicked to the curb, I can’t help but reminisce and reflect on the precious memories it holds and now understand why this old shelf is so hard to let go of.

It stood sturdy in my childhood bedroom holding all my worldly possessions. As a latchkey kid raised by a single mother, I spent a lot of time alone. In those days there were no cell phones, social media, or even internet to keep me company, but I had the entertainment of the television and this bookshelf.

The bottom shelf held my encyclopedia Britannica that fed my curiosity and served as the Google of my childhood. I still have the pink mini flip notebook in which I penned silly poems in. Read to the end and I’ll treat you to a sample of my work.

My Teen Beat magazines were stacked on the middle shelf. I’d flip through those glossy pages desperately looking for a page with Matt Dillon on it. When I found one, I’d rip it out and Scotch tape it to my wall.

After watching the Outsiders in the movie theatre, I made room on the middle shelf for every SE Hinton book and read them over and over again. The Outsiders scene where Dally got shot made me cry every time. Stay Gold Ponyboy!

The top shelf was reserved for my cassettes and Sony cassette recorder. Reading the lyrics in the cassette insert of Rick Springfield’s “Working Class Dog”, I’d sing along to “Jessie’s Girl” and then hit the fast forward button until I got to “I’ve Done Everything for You”. Fun times!

I’ve always felt unusually loyal to this piece of furniture and reflecting on it has given me insight as to why. This bookshelf, with the help of my mom and MTV, raised me. Sadly, it hasn’t served me in years, so it’s time to say goodbye, but it’s ok, the memories will remain.

If you made it this far, as promised, here’s a treat…one of the poems from my mini flip notebook.

I took a walk one day.
It was the beautiful month of May.
I took a look and saw a brook.
In the brook I saw a boy.
The boy had lost a toy.
The boy did not know how to swim,
So, I went after him.
I saved the boy who lost his toy.

My Walk (Age 11 – 2/11/1983)