Into each life

a little rain must fall. Continuing here to share from my album, The Closets of my Life....Jason was 10 years old in 1988 and had severe asthma. After 31 days in intensive care, the doctors said that he would be dead in 2 years. I didn't know what to do. I was so afraid that they were right, but I was so determined to make them wrong. I sold everything we owned and moved to San Diego. All we had were our clothes, our photos and scrapbooks and a few things for the kitchen. I was on my own, a single mom without a dime. And I was a thousand miles away from my sisters. I had no idea where my life would take me. I had one single solitary goal...to keep this child alive.



The house we lived in had sliding doors for closets, so I recreated them here. Sort of bland, huh? These layouts are done on foam core board which I hollowed out to give me almost 1/4" depth inside the closets. So hang on...it's what's behind the doors that counts!



Every night after school, I took Jason to the beach and told him to play in the ocean. I told him that the salt in the water would heal his lungs. I prayed every moment of every day knowing that if he died, I would surely die as well. Fear encompassed my life. Fear drove me to create breathing exercises, games that forced him to use his lungs, and a daily regime of drugs and nebulizer treatments. Within 2 years, he was well on the road to recovery and our new life brought us new friends, new interests, new hobbies and new collections. And in no time at all my closets were once again filled to the brim...perhaps fuller than they had ever been.



I had a full time day job, and on weekends, I worked in an antique shop. So this closet is filled with junk! But it's also filled with photos of my sisters, notes about their lives, and you can see little notes tucked inside of purses...and little scrapbooks that I have recreated....holding secrets from my past.



I have the templates to make each of these closets so if you want to make them for yourself, just let me know! And although the doors slide back and forth, they also flip up for easy access to what's hidden behind them.

It has to rain in order for rainbows to shine. And behind every cloud is a silver lining. I have learned that a little rain in life is good. And that closets packed to the brim with memories are worth more than anything else!


Closets already shared:
1978
1968
1958