We found a beat up secretary that was standing alone in a corner of a driveway garage sale. One of the original glass panes was missing and little pieces of detailing were gone, here and there. When I inquired after it, I found it was hand made by the lady’s grandfather, truly unique and much to far out of my price range. I gave her my number, after telling her she really shouldn’t sell it (being a family heirloom), hoping maybe she would come down in price.

She did call…and offered it to me for free, if I promised to take care of it. We brought it home and proceeded to find all matter of interesting quirks and secret tales about this piece as we looked it over. Tucked away in a drawer was a tiny paper plaque complete with her grandfather’s signature, in a slanted elegant hand.

Now, whenever I look at the secretary with its missing glass pane and bruises here and there, I think of Mr. C. P. Long and the painstaking time it must have taken him to make such a stunning piece, from the nouveau rosettes adorning the cabinet to the tiny brass knob left among the three inside drawers. I wonder about him and what caused him to make this treasure. Would he be sad to see it given away? It reminds me to keep close the things I cherish, the stories I have, and take care of them even if they do lose their luster, a bit, over time.

That and everything in your store. That $20 would prove to be most useful.

Thanks for offering the giveaway!

-Vanessa