Yesterday I bought a bookshelf

I'd always told myself I wouldn't give in and get another one. All it would do was allow for me to buy even more books that I don't have time to read! But when I saw this one at Walmart yesterday, $27 and a similar color to other furniture in my room, I couldn't resist. After a mishap putting the backing on the wrong way and having to be creative getting the nails out so I could turn it around, my bookcase was assembled. And because I'm a librarian, I now have a bookshelf for science fiction/fantasy, another one for general fiction (nonfiction also has its own bookcase). Books look so much nicer when they're spread out instead of jammed in as tightly as possible! I also had extra room to display my family heirlooms. The new bookcase faces my bed, and it makes me so happy to see this when I wake up in the morning:

The box on the top shelf is a carved trinket box that my maternal grandmother gave me. She got it for her mother around 1950 when they went shopping in Reynosa, Mexico (they lived in Edinburg, right on the border, at the time). The ceramic lady had been on display at my dad's parents' house for as long as I remember, and I always thought it must've been Grandma's. Shortly before Grandpa died though, he told me that his father had grown roses and that the figurine was a prize for winning a rose competition in 1961! It brings such pleasant memories whenever I look at it, and I like to think of my great-grandfather when I take care of my own rosebushes.

On the bottom shelf is my favorite picture of my family, and some stones (petrified wood, amethyst, and some kind of yellow mineral) that belonged to Grandpa. Last, is my favorite: a seashell that one of my great-great-grandfathers got in Tazmania when he served as a missionary there in the 1890s. when you put it to your ear, the sound is much wilder and ferocious than a normal conch. I tell myself that's what the Tasman sea sounds like. It's amazing how simple objects can connect you to the past, and it doesn't hurt when they're so beautiful. You know that question, if your house was on fire, what would you save first? I would save these things.