Dresser brings back memories

All I wanted to do was wash down the little three-drawer dresser that we brought back from Slana this last trip so I could use it in the garage to corral gloves and other things.

I assembled my bucket of soapy water, Simple Green for the grease spots, rag and rubber gloves to work in the garage using the chest freezer for a work surface. Yesterday, I glued and hammered a piece of fascia board back into place on one side.

As I put the gloves on, I suddenly thought how nice it would be to listen to music while working, but didn’t want to go to the trouble of disturbing one of my carefully placed radios around the house, each tuned to a different station. Then I remembered and retrieved the Walkman that I’d listened to while going to sleep last night and decided not to change the cassette — The Best of Anne Murray.

As I cleaned the dresser, my mind flashed back to the last time I’d cleaned it, in California, about 37 years ago when our son was born. Since our home was a small school bus, my husband Gary’s and my clothes were kept in shallow overhead cupboards above the bed. I finally realized that trying to get baby stuff in and out of that area on a regular basis would be inconvenient, so I started looking for a small dresser at yard sales.

Feeling a little desperate, I finally found this one the week before he was born. Although the grey color was horrible, it fit perfectly between the refrigerator and the Franklin fireplace — only 26 inches tall, 17 inches wide, and 12 inches deep. Marked $20, the price was also great, so I decided to buy it and paint it a more appropriate color. I washed it down inside and out, but Patrick arrived before the painting could be done so changing the color was no longer a high priority.

The little dresser was perfect for our needs while living in the bus and went with us in all our future moves — always filled with a variety of things over the years, including sewing notions. Twenty years ago when I decided I didn’t want to look at it anymore, Gary took it for his use. Three years ago when we moved from Slana back to Palmer, he abandoned it and said the new owners could have it.

We made a trip last month to work on the outside of the Slana house and yard to spruce things up even more as we wait for a buyer. When I did a sweep through Gary’s Quonset hut looking for anything I might want to take back to Palmer, the little dresser jumped out at me. It would be perfect for organizing gloves and things in the garage.

Now, as I’m cleaning, I realize again that it could sure use a coat of paint (even though there is evidence of two prior colors under the grey). But, I decide that since it’s going to be used in the garage and the grey color will blend in with the cement floor, I won’t paint it. Besides I don’t have time and want to start using it right away.

All this thinking took place with Anne Murray crooning in the background through the Walkman’s headphones. I’m sure I heard many of these same songs when the dresser first came into our lives, although Walkman listening devices hadn’t yet been invented.

I remember seeing my daughter using this Walkman with the headphone over her ears many times when she was a young teen. I didn’t have time to listen to music in that way back then, but have found her Walkman very useful recently. I used it to listen to music while having dental work done last winter and now sometimes use it at night since the cassette player part of my clock radio quit.

Quite a while back, my son told me that I need to embrace the 21st century and buy an iPod and lately he has encouraged me to get rid of my “toy” cellphone and get a real one. I haven’t seen the need yet, and by the time I do, most likely those items he wants me to acquire will be obsolete. That way I can skip the hassle of learning at least one and perhaps two generations of new products in one shot.

Back to the dresser: it is such an ugly little thing. I can’t believe we didn’t have something nicer for our precious baby boy. As I tried to recall other baby equipment, I realized we didn’t buy anything new. Though I made an effort to prepare for his birth, I was quite naïve at the time. I think my attitude was something like “women have been having babies for millennia…I can do it, too.” It’s a wonder we all survived.

Well, the dresser is clean and I’ve listened to both sides of the cassette — 22 Anne Murray songs. Time to get back to reality. I think I’ll go work in the kitchen and listen to Country Legends radio while I fix a Mexican chicken and rice dish for lunch for the present day us, now both middle aged and retired. Life marches on.

Maraley McMichael is a longtime Mat-Su Valley writer and resident.