My Desk Is a Warm Hug SOLSC #SOL24

Thank you, Terje, for inspiring my slice today.

I am sitting at my desk in my son's bedroom, which is now my writing room. I start most mornings here surrounded by the ghosts of the past writing with my friends from all over the country and world. I feel comfort in this room where my son grew up, and while I have painted the walls and changed the furniture, the layers of his life surround me. His bed is still here (though covered in a different comforter) for the times he comes home for a night or two.  

I wonder if I will move my desk into my daughter's room when she eventually leaves home to create her own. Just to feel closer to her.

Instead of posters of planes and trains, there are pictures and mementos of the places that remind me of our small family and the places that soothe my soul. The plush puffins and picture of the Sun Voyager sculpture in Iceland remind me of the last (and maybe only as we often travel with friends and family) trip the four of us took together.  The beauty of Iceland and this special time with the kids moved me.  Elements of the ocean remind me of my happy place next to the waves with my feet in the sand.  Pens, papers, stamps, and other writing implements wait for me to write, plan, and process all of the thoughts in my head.  

This corner of the room hugs me any time I sit down to write or work.  I can count on its embrace to ease my mind and body.  

I also love finding little pieces of my son as he always leaves something behind - a pair of socks, "poop" notes all over my desk to make me laugh, a piece of mail he did not take with him. I leave them right where they are.

I'm not sure how long we will be here in this house. It could be a long while. Or maybe not. I am waiting to see where my kids settle.

I do know that I will spend this time, my writing time, in a place that was once theirs, and there will always be pieces of them around me, literally and figuratively.