The mantle, historically, has been the visual representation of a person’s worth. It describes their affiliation. Their roots. The place from which they find their strength, their identity /
and their protection.
Fromleft to right, down then up and back, here is my mantel:
A sassy pic of my stepdaughter, trying to pretend she thought the photo shoot we booked for my partner, myself and her was cheesy.
A red British telephone box my dad got me; he said, as he presented it to me proudly on Christmas Day, it was just like Dr. Who’s box.
A photo in front of The Commons, the mall tres chic in Federal Way; pictured are: myself, my partner , my younger sister and her partner and kids, my brother and his partner and kid, and my Aunt JJ whom we took shopping every year for Christmas until she passed.
A small canvas with a cat with a bow Ada painted on the porch with me last summer.
A Wiccan-ass candle.
A photo taken by our friend Jenny at the aforementioned cheesy photo shoot.
A picture of Ada before I knew her, that her mom printed and framed.
A small plaque, with a dollar-store-cheesy saying about family, because my dad’s favorite store is the Dollar Store and that’s where he goes for birthday gifts.
Another Wiccan-ass candle.
A small coffee/tea cup I bought from my dear friend @floatingfeetstudios when he, and his partner Ashlea, offered up discounted wares to support Australia during the fires last year.
A photo of my cat Ghost as a kitten.
A carving of a fictional Tree God by my thoughtful brother-in-law Kyle, who doesn’t believe in tree gods, but knows I do, and spent his hard-earned time creating this gift for me.
A plaque I got myself at Ocean Shores saying, “In dog wines I’ve only had one.”
Another Wiccan-ass candle. (Ok spoiler alert just assume there are a lot of Wiccan-ass candles on my mantle.)
A decorative plate of unicorns and all kinds of wild creatures Ada made us in 2019 at school for Christmas.
A snow globe I got for myself when I went to the BLM March in Washington DC in 2020.
The roses Jim bought this morning for the birthday of “Ada *Rose* Liner.”
The Gothic Unicorn plate Ada made us in 2020 at school.
A photo on our wall I think is average and Jim loves (but that I appreciate came from a local artist at the time).
A photo of Ada at less than 2 (I guess) at what I think is a photo shoot; she’s fucking adorable.
Another small canvas with a cat that Ada painted with me on the porch last summer.
A photo of Ada petting a goat at a goat/yoga farm in Tenino at which I said I wanted to celebrate my birthday with Ada last summer.
A photo I took of my father; he didn’t know I was taking a picture and he was reading what I wrote in his Father’s Day card that year and crying.
The paw print my niece and I took from the body of Rufus two weeks ago.
A photo of my brother’s twin babies; they are literal copies of him.
A photo I took of Ada last summer as we ate dinner in the sun in the back yard.
One of her and Jim with Sundays on the last day of her longest visit last year.
A photo from our shoot; just the two curly-haired Liners.
A small cutout of a dog my older sister got for Jim last year that says, “Be the Person Your Dog Thinks You Are.” (Which I told her wasn’t possible because this man’s dog thought he was a Greek God.)
A shot of myself and my best friend hugging at a concert last year.
A vase Jim got years ago in Washington DC.
The “wine glass,” my brother got me a few years that is shaped/sized like a wine bottle but says that the person holding it has finally found a wine glass that fits their needs.
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