It’s no secret I like organization. This year, one of my Christmas presents was custom-built shelving in my garage. They’re new, but they have a bit of a story.

Almost 10 years earlier, the same family member built shelves in the basement of the house my ex and I moved into. I’d never had a place to store all the totes of family memories, holiday decor, books, and other items I wasn’t quite ready to get rid of but didn’t have closet space for either. Standing back and looking at everything on those sturdy shelves that day many years ago made me so happy. It’s the small things. Little did I know in a few short months I’d be carrying those totes up the basement stairs to stack in the yard so friends could move them to my rental. I was thankful for enough storage space in my new safe space. I had to move quickly, and the situation made me very uncertain in many ways, including wanting to protect the girls’ things they might later want. 

Goodbye fabulous shelves.

Several years later, when I bought a new home, my son-in-law (yes, the same person) offered to build shelves for me, but I declined. It felt too much to ask him to do it again. And maybe a part of me didn’t want the reminder. I was moving on. I liked my new life. I felt strong, but if I was honest, my legs were still a bit wobbly. At least, my heart was. Shelves seemed like a little thing in the big scheme of it all, but it’s just where I was at the time. I’ve learned it is important to be gentle where gentle is needed. And I can be organized in just about any space with limited tools. 

Fast forward a half dozen years, and the thought (and comment) came up, “It sure would be nice to have shelves in the garage.” Voilá! I now have shelves and an organized garage just the way I like it. I’m not going to share a picture, because, you know…security and all that, but suffice it to say, they were worth the wait. Had the shelves been built when I moved in, I wouldn’t have known the best placement or what I would need over time. (Now I have a special parking space for the kids’ ride-on dump truck.) 

And these shelves have nothing to do with looking back at the memory/trauma of the other shelves or the other house. These were built for my now and my future and the people in my now and future. I know some people don’t get the peace that organization brings some of us, but when I pull into my garage at the end of the day, and when I leave it in the morning, I smile. I sigh. It’s like something just clicks. 

Find those things for yourself. Organization is just one for me. The more little things you can scatter throughout your day that can make you smile help you along the way. They might have a story that reminds you of pieces of your past that aren’t your favorite, but they also point you into the future. And that can remind you how great where you are and where you’re going truly are.

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