My Grandpa's Desk

My goal with The Tin Owl is to create images and products that enhance your day, that make you smile, that strike a chord and inspire you. Here's the story behind one of the objects in my life that inspires me every day:  

After flying B-24s in World War II, my grandpa went to dental school at the University of Minnesota. He and my grandma lived in a small house in South Minneapolis with their children and several other family members, and it was hard for him to find a quiet place to study away from the chaos of a full house. My grandma got a job at the drugstore down the street, on the corner of 15th and Lake (just a few blocks from where I'd make a home 60 years later), and saved up her modest paychecks to surprise my grandpa with a brand new desk for Christmas where he could study, and a chair she embroidered by hand. That desk got him through dental school, through building up his own practice, through raising a beautiful family, and years later through writing his life story down in a priceless memoir. I remember watching him type away at that desk, patiently waiting to talk to him, and can hear him laugh and say 'just a minute, Marney Barney'. I look at this desk and I see my grandma smile at my grandpa with pure love, and I feel a complete peace where all is well and good and safe. I miss my grandparents dearly; this well-loved desk brings me beautiful reminders of them every day, inspiring love, joy, and kindness in my soul.