The Big Reveal

“Close your eyes, and keep them closed until I tell you to open them.”  If anyone grabbed you and told you that you would either be skeptical and walk in with one eye slightly opened, or you would be completely trusting.  On television shows, it is usually done in a home improvement show, where the big reveal is done to the homeowner.  Sometimes they are involved, sometimes not. 

Having been traveling for work, my true big reveal will be when I get home.  Having recently moved back to NJ, Gab wanted to transform her bedroom from her childhood place to a more adult bedroom befitting a young adult.  I remember doing the same growing up.  The room becomes a metaphor on “This is a who I am today, not who I was back then.”  We all grow, we all change. 

There was a handmade picture on the back of the door in our den – when I would exercise, I would look at it and it was part of my day.  One day recently, the picture was gone.  I asked my family what happened.  Bec, without hesitating, told to me (it was her picture from Kindergarten), “I crumpled it up and threw out.” 

“Why did you do that?” I responded.  “I loved seeing that each day when I exercised.”

“Because that does not reflect who I am,” she replied. “The foods I did not like in the picture I now eat and the things that I did not do, I now do.”

I did not get it when she responded and still wish I had taken a picture of it beforehand.  I know it is not who she has become, but I did like having a reminder of where she came from. 

Gab’s room is no different.  I wrote the first half before seeing the finished room.  The big reveal is when I walk in the house.  I am excited for her doing this.  This little project started with an idea, a decision to make a change, selecting between the options, and then putting into action the plan to achieve a desired goal.  As a parent, this is something we hope our children begin to do on their own.  Her room really becomes a metaphor for life – we change, we grow and we should have the conviction to control the path we walk along.  This is part of growing up, maturing and developing as a person. 

As I stepped into her room, a big smile broke out on my face.  The plain white room with her childhood furniture was gone.  In its place was a room full of bright colors and furniture befitting Gab at this point in her life.  I was excited for the big reveal, as it is another sign that my daughter is grown up and becoming the person she wants to be.