Climbing the narrow steps to my attic has never been an easy task. It becomes more difficult with age, but to decorate for Christmas a trip to the attic is essential. I will admit having my body bent in a hunchback position while shuffling around boxes (and muttering a few choice curse words every time my head hits the overhead trusses) is not my idea of fun.

It is amazing what you find in the attic.

When I visit the attic, questions come to mind. Questions like, “Did I really save an entire box of my daughter’s grade school memorabilia, and why? Or, “where should I display all the baby teeth collected by the tooth fairy?” Yes, of course, it’s a rhetorical question but it does make one wonder about those things we shove into the attic.
I don’t know about you, but at age eighty, I don’t foresee myself climbing the attic ladder to sift through pasted first grade crafts; or finding any value in pictures colored outside the lines or report cards bearing satisfactory check marks.

Forgotten dreams are buried in the attic.

This year my trip to the attic revealed a few forgotten dreams. There was the box filled with my troll dolls from the early 60s and the felt clothes I crafted with a pair of blunt end scissors. It was my dream of being a fashion designer. The shoebox of doll furniture was my dream to decorate the homes of famous people.

As my hand brushed the dust from the cover of a binder, my heart skipped a beat. It was a collection of children’s poetry, songs and writings from the early 80s. The contents of that binder held my ultimate dream; to one day author a book.

In our youth, we dream big and nothing seems impossible. At age eight, I dreamed of marrying Chuck Connors from the TV show ‘Rifleman’. At age twelve it was the dream of walking the runway at the Miss America pageant.

Life is full of dreams.

An occasional trip to the attic to revisit our buried dreams might not be such a bad idea. Some of our dreams may never be realized.  The dream of being a pro-football player may never happen, but coaching a little league team is within reach.

Maybe you never fulfilled your dream of teaching; then volunteer at your child’s school. Didn’t finished that law degree? Consider mentoring someone who has fallen through the cracks of our justice system. So, you aren’t the rock star you hoped to be; maybe you didn’t make the grades to reach that medical school dream. It doesn’t matter. Everyone has an attic dream waiting to be uncovered even if we need to make revisions.

What is your attic dream?