Drawer Pulls = No Drama

I remember about eight years ago when Imani's father and I were splitting up.  Not only was my family as I knew it falling apart, but everything in my life seemed in disarray.

I couldn't believe I was finding myself in this situation -- a single mom of a bi-racial daughter - 

with no clue how to raise a child

and no clue how to raise a bi-racial daughter

and  no clue how to get my life on track.

I needed a break, so I packed Imani in the car and headed off to Virginia with a friend. She was going to visit her daughter and I was going to visit my friend Jennifer, who I'd known since kindergarten.

We made the 12 hour trek together and, looking back, I'm surprised my friend agreed to travel such a long distance with a two-and-a-half year old in the back seat.  I'm glad she did.

Staying with Jennifer was a welcome break from all the craziness I was experiencing. My life had become something off a bad, dramatic daytime talk show like Ricki Lake or Maury Povich and my head was spinning.

Jennifer's house offered me peace and quiet.  In my thinking I noticed a recurrent theme in Jennifer's house.

She had fancy drawer pulls on her dressers, bureaus and cabinets. 

I remember we had dinner at another friend's house during my stay and lo and behold, she too had fancy drawer pulls -- drawer pulls shaped like flowers, birds, butterflies . . .

I commented on their drawer pulls and how fancy they looked and I think Jennifer and Laura both thought I was joking.

"Seriously, Steph . . . drawer pulls take all of five minutes to put on!" Jennifer said laughing.

I thought about it for a minute.

"I guess when your life is so full of drama, you don't have time to notice drawer pulls," I said. 

 "That's it. When I go home, I'm getting fancy drawer pulls." 

It sounds silly, but I was dead serious.  When your life isn't full of drama, you can notice the details around your house.  It became a running joke that week and when I left, Jennifer and Laura gave me six of these:

I still have them and will likely keep them forever.

To me, they are symbolic of having a drama-free life (for the most part!!). 

Sure, life gets hectic and crazy, but it's not out of control anymore.

And I'm happy to report that just the other day, I was in Hobby Lobby perusing one of my favorite aisles and I remembered Jennifer and Laura.

So I made a little purchase for our little guy's bedroom.

And when I got home, I replaced these

with these

May he have a life free of drama.

What about you?  Do you have fancy drawer pulls?