What is the Little Bronze Lion?

For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to grow up and live in a house where a bronze lion statue resided in the foyer. He would “watch over” my house, and I would pat his head lovingly when coming or going, and the top of his mane would slowly burnish, like Fala’s ears at the FDR Memorial in DC, where people couldn’t resist touching the little dog statue. I’m not talking a big library-entrance-style statue, though I’ve always had a fondness for them. I mean a little table-top statue. I haven’t the foggiest idea how this notion ever got into my head, but a little lion to greet me just meant “home” for some reason.

When my husband Tim and I bought our house in August of 2010, it needed a lot of work. Every room needed attention, but there was so much room for growth. A grand opportunity stretched before us to make that building into our favorite place to be, filled with warmth and laughter, friends and family. We signed the final papers. We were now the proud owners of a house with awkward kitchen cabinets and a dingy claw-foot tub and no ready place to put a washer and dryer. We were willing to take it on.

When we went to the house that evening after work with the keys for the first time, I pulled back the screen door to reveal that a little bronze lion doorknocker that Tim had snuck over and installed before I got off work that day. There was also a very sweet note from Tim about buying the house together, and I’ll admit, I got super teary-eyed over the whole thing. It wasn’t the table-top lion in a foyer (partly because we don’t have one), but the little bronze lion was the first step in turning our house into a home. It’s going to be a long process, but with a partner like that, I know it’s going to be incredible.