The Gift
About a month ago one of my favorite baristas approached me while I was knitting away in my favorite orange chair at Starbucks. I knew that Rachel was moving out of state soon...and as happy as I was for her new opportunity, I was going to miss her. She's been a good friend to me for quite some time now....and she also is one of the rare people who has noticed how truly special my youngest child is. (Tanith suffers a bit in being the younger sibling of a "perfect" first child.) Rachel has always made a special fuss over Tanith.
My friend proceeded to tell me about the dollhouse that her grandfather had made for her when she was a child. I could tell how much she loved and cherished her memories of playing with it.....it was clearly a treasure. She then asked if Tanith would like to have it. I was surprised. I have my own grandpa made items, and I know how difficult it would be to part with them. Rachel's dollhouse had been in storage for years, though, and rather than pack it along only to pack it away once again she wanted it to go to someone who would love it as much as she had.
We visited Rachel in her home on Sunday, where she sat down on the floor with Tanith and told my girl all about the dollhouse....how she used to play with it, which rooms she used for different purposes, what kind of decorating she used to do. She gave us permission to do whatever we wanted with the house....she only asked that we posted photos on FB so that she could see the transformation.
It is truly an amazing dollhouse....well built, and full of possibility.
For now, Tanith's lego friends have moved in, but we do have some ideas for redecorating and providing a few minor upgrades and repairs. Tanith and I have talked curtains and rugs and quilts and visits to Hobby Lobby for goodness knows what to help us decorate. We will be sure to share our journey along the way!
And thank you, Rachel, from the bottom of my heart.
We love it, and I promise we will take very good care of your grandpa's dollhouse.
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