The gold shelf

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November 6, 2009

Anonymous The Corsicana Daily Sun Fri Nov 06, 2009, 04:41 PM CST

If I had a dollar for every time Mom said, “It’s on the gold shelf,” I could buy the Texas Rangers! The “gold shelf” was just that — it was a gold shelf with a mirror over it located near the front door. The shelf was the keeper of all things in my old East Dallas home.

My sister, Robyn, still has the mirror at her home in Midlothian. We’re not sure what happened to this famous work of 1970s gaudiness. Maybe it was sold in one of those famous garage sales over the years. Who knows, it may be found years from now, and held up as an example of 20th century priceless art work! In any case, the mirror has inspired me once more.

Anything and everything important or not so important was on the gold shelf. If that shelf could talk, what stories it could tell! If Mom said “It’s on the gold shelf,” it was there. “Where’s my lunch Mom?” “It’s on the gold shelf.” “Where’s that paperwork?’’ “It’s on the gold shelf,” Mom would yell. “Where’s my head?’’ “It’s on the gold shelf,” Mom would bellow. I guess you get the picture. “It’s on the gold shelf.”

I sometimes wonder what one would think the gold shelf was, if not a family member. Isn’t that an earthquake fault line in California? Perhaps it was a place where precious metals were kept. Maybe the country was on the gold shelf standard. It may not be where precious metals are kept, but it was a source of precious memories.

Once Dad asked, “Where are my car keys?” Mom replied are you ready — wait for it — here it comes — “It’s on the gold shelf, Dave!” Unbelievably, Dad yelled, “No, it’s not.” Horror of horrors! Dad denied the gold shelf. Mom was beginning to get a little testy. “It’s right there Dave,” she gestured. Alas, it was not on the gold shelf. Call the TV channels — film at 11, alert the newspaper! “Extra, extra read all about it: ‘Keys not on the gold shelf!’” Dad had been working on the plumbing, or something, and somehow his keys had fallen off the gold shelf and into his open tool box below the shelf. In fact, I had the honor of discovering the keys. Dad had asked me to put his tool box away and as I bent under the shelf to pick up the tool box, it was as if the keys yelled out to me — there they were hanging half way in and half way out of the box. Mom was right again; they HAD been on the gold shelf!

A watershed year in the Fleischer household was 1968. In December of that year, Temple Emanuel held a Chanukah home decorating contest with prizes. Mom and Dad went all out and surprised us kids with their creativity. We actually had Chanukah lights outside like our friends Christmas lights. My favorite was the lighted menorah. Whatever happened to that menorah? Oh, wait that’s a different story.

Decorating the house was a family event. My brother and I had fun helping my dad put up the lights and my mom and sisters took care of the inside of the house. Mom made several cool cutouts out of Styrofoam, one of which was The Ten Commandments. Then we all had the task of cleaning the house spic and span including the gold shelf. Now about now you are probably thinking that this shelf was somehow big and wide, but actually it was very small. It was amazing just how much stuff was cleared off that shelf. Then mom placed The Ten Commandments on the shelf. Somehow it fit perfectly with not much room to spare. On the days leading up to the big judging event we were told, warned, and threatened to keep the house clean including not to put anything on the gold shelf. One might say, that year the 11th commandment declared, “Thou shall not put anything on the gold shelf by order of Mom and the good Lord! Oh, I guess you are waiting for the outcome of the contest. Yes, we won! The prize was simply a handsome wooden Star of David with the words “Chanukah 1968.” Where did we hang that beautiful star? You might be guessing the gold shelf, but actually we hung it ABOVE the gold shelf! It stayed there for many years and to this day still hangs over the fireplace in the den.

Which brings me to the question of why was the gold shelf taken down? As if as out of the Twilight Zone, no one in the family really knows why it was taken down. After all of us kids moved out, my mom finally got the dining room she always wanted and dad got the den he wanted — maybe that is when it was taken down. Out with the old and in with the new!

My sister was telling me as she read this, that she has a gold shelf in her new home. Actually she has a hall tree. It is a big beautiful piece of furniture that sits by the front door that her late husband won in a contest at work. She says somehow everything ends up on the ledge. Her son will ask, “Mom, where’s my lunch?” She replies, “It’s on the tree hall!”

How about yourself? Think back. Was there a special place in your home that brings up pleasant memories or maybe not so pleasant memories? Here’s hoping your household gold shelf remains in your heart.

—————

Mark Fleischer is a Daily Sun columnist. Want to “Soundoff” on this column? E-mail: soundoff@corsicanadailysun.com

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