Showing vs. Telling — #7
Join me for a tour of Leo's Room!
WOW! What a weekend it’s been. With Leo’s story being added to Outside’s Long Reads section and shared across social media channels, I’m buzzing with love, gratitude and overwhelm from the variety of big emotions that are genuinely impossible to process all at once.
Many have reached out with beautiful stories of their own, encouraging words of heartfelt sympathy for our loss mixed with admiration of the amazing life we had with Leo, and simply to let Ryan and I know they took the opportunity to get out for a walk or hike with their kids as a tribute to him over the weekend.
It’s amazing. Sharing Leo and the stories of love and adventure we experienced as a family has become the next best thing to living them. Thank you—from the bottom of my heart—for reading, sharing and reaching out.
The piece I was planning to finish yesterday to publish this Sunday morning needed a clear, less emotionally erratic headspace to complete and edit. In exchange, especially considering I’m short on words—which is maybe okay, since hopefully you were able to read The Brief, Wondrous Life of Little Leo, or can soon—I thought I’d give a totally impromptu tour of Leo’s room in our Portland home.
Please note: there are probably errors in here, as I’m not spending the time I normally would in thoughtfully editing. Thanks for not holding it against me!
As you likely know, Leo never lived here with us. When we decided to sell our home in Fort Collins, we knew we wanted our next home to have a unique area where we felt we could intentionally spend time with Leo. The den with a giant east facing window for his plants, charming french doors and an advertised full wall built-in bookcase sold us on renting this place.
To our disappointment, the bookcase was removed prior to us moving in. But, pivoting to incorporate an accent wall in the color initially purchased for Leo’s room in Fort Collins—which we never got around to painting—we feel the way we transformed the space over the next few months worked out to our benefit.
Spending the first couple hours of our Saturday and Sunday mornings reading and doing crossword puzzles, with the Coffee House or Brandi Carlile Pandora stations playing in the background, has become something we look forward to during the work week. I wrote every word of Leo’s piece for Outside in this room—surrounded by his things, photos and art reminding me of our favorite adventures, whilst switching between my desk with a kickass pink chair displaying an embroidered desert scene and falcon flying above and cozy loveseat with Albert lounging next to me.
In this inspired sacred space, filled with love and color, I like to think Leo and I were able to write our family’s story together.
Photo 1: Leo’s collection of iconic jackets worn on our hikes, most purchased second hand through Patagonia Worn Wear, a canvas of my personal favorite Leo photo (where he’s held by Ryan in a grove of aspen trees while hiking in Crested Butte, CO), and Leo’s Monstera plant that has gotten gigantic despite being split with four friends prior to leaving Fort Collins.
Photo 2: The little mom and baby fox we purchased on our first trip to Ikea after scoping out furniture for his woodland-critter-themed bedroom—Mom Fox is wearing the hazelwood and amber necklace Leo wore while he was teething and Baby Fox is holding Leo’s Chucky knife from his 2017 Halloween costume.
Photo 3: I love an intentionally eclectic gallery wall! There’s art from trips to Grand Marais, MN, a favorite John Muir quote, photos from three particularly favorite adventures, a collage of leaves from each of the nature strolls we took in WI and MN over the fall of (I believe..) 2018, a woven tapestry made with “fall in Colorado” in mind, and the ceramic Maori fish hook—which is said to grant strength, good luck and safe travel—brought back from my 2007 study abroad experience in New Zealand
Photo 4: The top of the trees pieces to note are Leo’s homemade Smokey’s Helper vest, the Yo Colorado cap he wore on every hike our first year in Colorado, and Babe the Blue Ox from his Paul Bunyan 2021 Halloween costume. Feel free to ask on anything else here in the comments!
Photo 5: Albums of family adventures building and exploring with (our van) Leona, Leo’s favorite cozy moccasins and the little signs that used to be next to photos in his room.
Photo 6: Certification of authenticity of the star our good friend named after him and hats he wore on adventures with patches I hand-stitched.
Wherever we choose to live in the future, I can’t imagine a home without a dedicated space for Leo—whether it’s a cute little corner or an entire room. If you’re interested in some tips of creating your own sacred space for a loved one, check out the piece I wrote for Elephant Journal here.
If you have questions or comments, I’d love to answer and engage further in the comments section below. Thanks so much for joining me through Leo’s room!
The angels must have asked, "Now what will we do with this little boy? You know it won't be easy." And God said, "I know exactly who to give him to."
Aw, such a sweet tribute to Leo and an awesome space for you to write. Albert enjoys it as well. Thanks, Lewann. 💛