Confessions of a Pack Rat!

Okay, I’ll admit it. I’m a pack-rat. There ... I said it. I’ve known this about myself for a long time, but now I’m publicly fessing-up. (Maybe this is “step one” in getting myself the help I need!)

As I empty a linen closet this morning, I notice something. One small box after another, I carry them into the kitchen and peek inside each box. This is madness. That’s the only word to describe me. I am a mad woman. Who saves these things? No one I know—only me. I have surely lost my mind. Here’s my confession:

I have an obsession—an obsession with candles. If anyone (even my husband) REALLY knew just how many shoe-boxes I have stashed away all over the house, they would seek psychiatric treatment for me immediately. I need a trip to the couch ... there’s no doubt in my mind.

I save candles. I collect them. I burn them every day. I mean EVERY day. Not a day goes by in my life where there is not at least one candle burning. Sometimes there are as many as ... I think the most was ... in the ballpark of forty or so.

I know, I know, that’s not normal. I need candle- rehab. I’m not kidding. There’s just something so soothing about a burning candle. Do I use the candles as therapy, or do I need therapy BECAUSE of the candles?

But that’s not the worst of it. I actually never throw away candle wax. Even the smallest, most unworthy piece of un-burned candle wax gets lovingly tossed into a box with all the other little “Candle Orphans.” They are all different shapes, sizes and colors. (see what I mean by “obsessed?”)

I keep my newly bought candles in pretty containers here and there around the house. I display tea lights and votives in glass cylinders, fish bowls, baskets ... you get the point. Sometimes I open a drawer and say “Oh! Candles! I forgot about these! YAY!”

Sometimes, I realize there are just too many ... out on display ... and I’ll put them all away and start over ... with just one ... atop the Baby-Grand. The piano serves as a giant, espresso-colored candle holder. It’s a beautiful piano, if only I’d clear it off and open it up. What a beautiful piece. But then, where would the candles go? Oh yes, on window-sills and toilet tanks, and end tables, or any other surface in my home that has an ounce of empty space. Where there is a surface there is a candle!