Man in the Mirror
Our parents told us not to get rid of the dining room mirror.
The January move into my mid-century dream house has been challenging.
Who knew about all the complicated red light signs in Westchester, Il.? “Right turn on red must yield to U-turn?” Sounds like some kind of Stormy Daniels manuever. Joe is my 86-year-old Italian neighbor and he’s been bringing me his left over lasagna and spaghetti from dinner. Now Joe is moving to Florida to go fishing. I’m going to miss my suburban BFF.
And I can safely say I’m done acquiring stuff. Boxes and boxes of books, records, magazines and CDs are dusty tokens of a lifetime in journalism. Does anyone want a refurbished tiki bar? After our parents died in the spring of 2015, the mirror went into storage.
There was no room for the mirror in my Chicago condo filled with books, records, unread magazines, CDs and tiki bar.
Liberating the mirror from storage is one of the best things about my move into the mid-century dream house where I can no longer afford cool mid-century artifacts. My first set of movers took great care in transporting the mirror. They estimated the artifact was more than 100 years old. And the fact my parents once owned this 1952 brick ranch puts the mirror back in some kind of proper place.
I’ve never been a big fan of mirrors. Neighbor Joe once invited me in his house. He has way more mirrors than me. I startled myself just by walking through the front door.
Neighborly offerings.
I’ve been too busy to think about this old mirror and how I accidentally found this family house. But when the sun sets I close the blinds in the bedroom sometimes I look at the mirror. I think about where I have been and I see what I have become. Sometimes that makes me sad.
Over the weekend through the bedroom window I saw a young father pushing his son along on a bicycle with training wheels. The boy fell a couple times on to the sidewalk. The father picked him up with gentle hands and a soft smile. I looked over at the mirror. Was that me? What have I missed? Did I waste too much time? The mirror was just a witness to my questions, taking it all in as it has for years.
Once Spring hits and everything starts to bloom you’ll love it.
Thanks Paul!
Lots of old trees out here!
Reads like I feel sometime too Dave❤