When I was a little girl we lived on the farm that had belonged to my great grandfather. The house was a two story home with three rooms upstairs and four rooms downstairs. I can remember one of the rooms upstairs was called the store room. No one went in there. My brother and I were told not to go in there, but I can remember opening the door and looking inside. It had no boxes of stuff. I don't remember cardboard boxes at all to tell the truth. There were piles of material, much of which had at one time held Gold Medal flour and feed for the chickens and other animals. Many of my clothes were made out of those sacks my mother carefully washed and folded and put on the floor of the store room. When I think back to that room it was really cluttered with piles of things looking like they had just been thrown in there. My mother's house was always neat. But that room sure wasn't. It had old pictures in wooden frames. None of them were hanging on the wall. I think they were just waiting to be thrown away. Then there were chamber pots. They were forbidden to use unless there was an emergency declared only by my mother! Oh how I hated to use the outhouse in an Iowa winter. Iowa summers as well because the wasps loved to hide in there.
I always figured that the store room was full of miracles, because whenever we had overnight company they would stay in that room. What did they sleep on? I have no idea because I never saw a bed in there. I can remember my cousin, Jim, when he was a baby stayed with us at the farm because his mom was sick and wasn't able to take care of him. I remember mom asking dad to get Jim out of the crib it was time for him to eat. Where did the crib come from? From the door way I could see things I never asked my mother about. Seashells. Huge seashells. Where did they come from? Were they gifts? I never asked, but evidently they meant a lot to my mom because they were still in her closet when she died.
Another time my other cousin, Bonnie Jean, stayed the whole summer. Did she sleep in the store room? Once a young boy from church needed a job. Where did he sleep? All I know was that often my mother would say, "It must be in the store room." Where? There were no boxes! I don't remember seeing any shelves.
My little office takes up a little space in my client's store room. Yes, she has a store room. It is also full of miracles. You could find anything from a paper clip to a greeting card to a parka in this room. There is a floor lamp that doesn't work and a scare crow waiting for autumn to arrive once again. There are totes of Christmas decorations and a box of hats that a dear friend of mine, Grandma Lu wears at times. There is a gnome doll that sits on my desk and supervises the stories that I write. Of course, there is a clock and a massive closet with shelves! There are books and baskets of computer stuff and hangers!. There is a sewing machine and many sewing baskets. There are boxes of hangers and totes full of pictures.
Of course, there are suitcases. I don't think my mom and dad had a suitcase. They must have stored them in their store room!
Most modern families have basements, garages, or guest rooms. I guess our store room was our guest room, and our walk in closet. I have a feeling that mom and dad stored baby stuff in there like a crib just in case another miracle arrived at our house.
