Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Personal space
Where I live: Springdale, near Elm Springs
Occupation: business development representative for Waco Title, and a chaplain at Washington Regional Medical Center
My favorite space is: my “Baby Room” in our home.
Why? My husband, Greg, and I build our house in 2005 and my daughter Lauren and I painted this room with the neighbor children. Today, it is where my grandkids come to find their toy closet. The closet was created six years ago when my first grandson, Kane, was born to make a space they could always call theirs. We now have four more grandchildren, Nixon, 4, Nathaniel, 2, Tripp, 2, and baby Stella, 4 months.
In this room I have tickled, rocked, played itsy bitsy spider. I have scratched backs until the grandboys were sound asleep. From the time they could stand up I have measured them to see how tall they are. They love to hear me squeal when they have grown. Their heels go straight against the wall next to the large measuring board and they hold those heads up so far. We measure every time they are here. We recently installed a bunk bed that the boys love. In this room, we do eat popcorn in bed.
If I could make one change to improve this space, I would: The best thing would be to have them here more often but to see their pictures everyday means so much to me.
— Laurie Marshall