![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.mairakalman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/a011.jpg\")
It’s beautiful, it’s personal, it’s unique to Maira Kalman and yet it’s a book that speaks to every reader. Even though your eyes may scan over a watercolor illustration of Kalman’s living room and think, “That doesn’t look like\u00a0my\u00a0<\/em>living room,” it nevertheless possesses armchairs, coffee tables, paintings, a window that looks out onto the street, perhaps a musical instrument, a stack of magazines, that reminds you of your own house – the advice given to you in that room, the stories told, the love shared, the tea spilled, the tears dried, the memories molded [some still enshrined in your brain while others you have forgotten].<\/p>\n This book about objects is extremely important in my life of late because of a certain transition: that passing of old houses from one family to the next. Two years ago, we moved out of my childhood house in Jackson, Michigan and my family followed me to Ann Arbor (staying on their side, of course, so as not to encroach on my campus lifestyle!) We passed over the keys to new residents, yet for financial reasons, we still had a bit of ownership over it. Through those two years, I never went back to see it. 1) I never had a reason to but also 2) I wasn’t sure how my heart would feel seeing it again.<\/p>\n Because a house is not just a box of wood and paint. It houses human hearts – it’s a body for our bodies. It lives and breathes with us. It changes. It needs mending. It provides nourishment and shelter and escape and refuge and yes, even stress. It is a home for our memories – from its smell to its stains to its cozy nooks of comfort. And when it’s no longer yours, it’s like a piece of your family’s identity is left behind, too. But we move on. We grow together, we make new memories, we find new nooks. But we still remember our old friend. And I bet you – it remembers us.<\/p>\n In honor of last week’s final selling of the Jackson house (we are no longer the bank), I’m dusting off a poem I wrote in the aftermath of our move:<\/p>\n ode to a<\/span>\u00a0beloved\u00a0yellow house<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n I had a little treasure box Winds would break its fragile walls, But my treasure trove was sturdy, Couch seats [seams ripping, My box loved its pairs: A two-way I close my box with one tear- For we don\u2019t empty, Today, “BOOK. FISH. SUIT. TIME. MOTHER. FATHER. LIFE. Everything is part of Everything. We Live, We Blunder LOVE UNITES US.” ~Maira Kalman This quote is one I have recently come across on the back of a most intriguing book found in the basement of Literati Bookstore. The book at first looks like it was handpainted and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2177,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[245,863,500,865,864],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7005"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2177"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7005"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7005\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7008,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7005\/revisions\/7008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.mairakalman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/4.Shoshannas-Room.550px.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net\/hphotos-xtf1\/v\/t1.0-9\/10489957_10152339010399541_8779863240289251705_n.jpg?oh=424e9ba0eac816a0e0d54d3c3cd679cf&oe=56F389CA\")
<\/p>\n
\nnineteen years and counting
\na shy pastel bursting\u00a0
\nwith buttery flavor.
\nNature had its way
\nwith decorating – as it does:
\npromiscuous kisses watermarked
\nits walls, flecks of snow and dust
\ncollected on its faded, well-worn cheeks.
\nThe lilac lasted but a week –
\na single blink of an observant eye.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\ncrack its bones
\nagainst the test of time,
\nthey said.<\/p>\n
\na bulwark never failing.
\nIts heart beat
\nstronger
\nthan any thunderclap.
\nWhen opened
\n(very carefully now,
\nlocks to the right,
\ndefies expectations)
\nI found a jungle of memories,
\nvines of lives
\nwell-traveled
\nand
\nwell-
\nloved.<\/p>\n
\nfur-bedraggled, evaporated tints]
\nwelcome you
\nto Home.
\nA musty odor
\nof damp
\nand old
\nand wisdom
\nbrings the anticipation
\nof summer.
\nFans flap
\nand clap
\nand applause
\nyour busy day,
\ntry their best
\nto cool you
\ndown.
\nThat spot there,
\nwhere
\nyou spilled your toothpaste,
\nbrush too big
\nfor your five year old
\nmouth,
\nlooks up without disdain.
\n\u201cDon\u2019t give up,\u201d
\nit encouraged,
\nand provided
\nsecond
\nchances again
\nand
\nagain.<\/p>\n
\n(Vivaldi, pancakes)
\n(parents, child)
\n(kitten, family)
\n(sickness, health)
\n(laughter, tears)
\n(darkness, creaks in the night)<\/p>\n
\nlove
\npermeated through its walls,
\nfrom our skin-
\nwe kept its secrets,
\nas it kept ours.
\nLook! My whispers,
\nmy thoughts,
\nmy jam-covered crumbs
\nnestle snuggly
\nin the space
\nbetween
\ncarpet
\nand wood.<\/p>\n
\nsealing our bond
\nwith the one everlasting gift.
\nThe love of memories
\nwedged deep in
\nhearts,
\nin cube-shaped
\ncutouts.
\nJump right in
\nand don\u2019t ever let go.<\/p>\n
\nwe retain,
\nbuild on
\nnew layers.<\/p>\n
\nI have moved my treasures
\nto the transparent future
\nwhere I
\ncan look out
\nand always see
\nmy
\nlovely
\nlittle
\nbox
\n-as it always stood-
\nfilling up with new
\ntreasures that
\naren\u2019t mine
\nto find
\nanymore.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"