Wanted: Character

For as long as I can remember this nightstand has been by my bedside. I'm guessing we have been a duo for about 45 years.

I know, you must be in awe.  You are thinking, "Surely she must have taken this picture in some 5-star hotel!"

Sometimes it is the simplest of things that makes a house a home. 

Even things as simple as an old nightstand.  

I know none of the history behind this nightstand, other than it has always been mine.  I don't know who made it, who stained it, how it made its way into my bedroom when I was young.  It just has always been.

Just between you and me, I don't think Michael is a big fan of this gorgeous piece of furniture.  He looks at it and sees, well... an old piece of furniture.  I look at it and see so much more.  

I see that table by my bed when I was 11 years old and began the phase of decorating my room in everything purple and gold in honor of the Minnesota Vikings.  There was the obligatory Minnesota Vikings trash can, a Vikings pendant, my autographed picture of Fran Tarkenton, a Purple People Eaters poster... and the "piece de resistance"....
that year's team poster above my bed (replaced by the new team poster the following season... and so on).

I see that table by my bed during my teenage years.  It was there when I had my record player (yes record player) playing as loud as possible while I sang along (just as loud, but bad) to Elton John, Barry Manilow, and Olivia Newton-John.  It was there for all the sleepovers my friends and I had.  It heard every game of Truth or Dare we ever played.  It also heard every wrong note I played on my saxophone over the years.  

I probably owe it, and the neighbors, an apology for the wrong notes, both those sang and played.

To be honest, I don't remember the nightstand NOT being there.

It is the perfect size for a night stand, the perfect height, and it has a drawer.  Over the years that drawer has held my most important things.  At one time it was the home to my diary.  Then it held those first school papers my kids brought home and later cards they made me in grade school.  At another season in life it held some jewelry. Now the drawer holds my A list items  for this stage in life:  Burt's Bees Lip Balm and Perlier Almond Hand Cream. 

This last week I took a closer look at my night stand.  Just as I see the passage of time in myself when I look in the mirror, I also see the passage of years when I look at this piece of furniture.  

The stain has always been uneven.  The top is dull and faded in spots. Like me, its joints are still holding up nicely, but its age is definitely showing.

I told Michael I was thinking of giving my nightstand a makeover.  

At that word he got glossy eyed and started talking about sanding.

We were definitely on two different pages here.  He assumed I wanted to make it new, shiny and polished again!

Far from it.

As I grow older I want to be the best me I can be.. for this age. I don't want to try to reclaim my 20s, 30s,  or even my 40s.  I want the character and depth that come with age, that come with living a little, that come with being in the elements and experiencing life.  

I want to afford that same grace to this old friend of mine. I have some ideas on how to restyle it and get it ready for our next 40 years together. 

I hope I can do it justice.