Practical tools like this wooden mail/key holder can easily be taken for granted. The one in this photo (which hangs in my kitchen) is now 45 years old!
This practical piece of wall décor is probably the least exciting item in my kitchen — but I use it all the time.
It was a gift from one of my co-workers at my bridal shower … over 40 years ago! Pam and I both worked for a couple of small weekly newspapers in the town of Folsom. She worked in the graphics department and I was a reporter.
(Before starting my job there, the only thing I knew about Folsom was that it was home to a prison Johnny Cash had made famous in his song “Folsom Prison Blues.” A small museum a block from our office taught me that Folsom was also the western terminus for the Pony Express for 15 months in the early 1860s.)
Pam was 10 years older than me, but as far as I was concerned, we could’ve been the same age. She was married with two daughters, and I always felt welcome at her home.
Despite the unremarkable nature of this mail holder, I wanted to share about it because it’s so incredibly useful. (Back when I actually paid bills by “snail mail,” it was a lifesaver because of how organized it kept my outgoing mail.) And the four hooks below the bottom rack have always been a handy place to keep keys I don’t want to lose.
Over two years ago, while scheduling the topics I’d be writing about in this newsletter, I also tried to come up with things I “couldn’t live without” (aka “Important Things”) for that section of my newsletter. And this wooden mail/key holder was one of the things that made it onto the list.
The value I’ve gotten from this simple mail holder reminds me of how easy it is to overlook the importance of ordinary (yet practical) things that surround us every day.
I also like the fact that I actually remember who it was that gave this to me(!) … and the memories I have from that period of my life. 😊
