2B

Making it her own

Our oldest daughter has just returned to Ann Arbor for her second year of college.  Moving her down there this year was different from last because this time she didn’t just take what she needed.  This time she has an apartment and she took it ALL.  Spending the day setting her up in her one room studio apartment was really a joy for me.  Originally, we had looked at it together and had taken a couple of pictures in order to remember it’s features.  Over the summer we made a very strategic floor plan to figure out how exactly she would fit everything she owned into one room.  It was a very long day.

Storage is a huge challenge in small space.  I designed a platform bed that stands twenty inches tall and accommodates numerous totes of different sizes, and shoe shelving at the bed’s foot that fits more shoes than any 18 year old should own.  Despite the fact that the two days it took her dad and uncle to build the bed were sweltering hot, it really turned out perfect.  I was lucky enough to spend the night with her on her new bed, in her new apartment.  We talked and laughed half the night.  

The next morning I had to leave early.  I spent some time looking around the room and feeling so excited for her.  I knew that her apartment would be one that she would love coming home to after a long day of classes.  I knew she would feel safe there and enjoy it’s cozy feel and sunny windows.  If she was no longer going to lie her head under the roof of her family home, this bed, this room was a fine substitute. As she lay in her bed, I kissed her warm cheek. I gave her a long hug, one to last her for a while after I was gone.  Or maybe it was to last me.