Refrigerators

In Scrolling Forward, David Levy makes a quick comment about refrigerators that got me thinking. I have often told people that my refrigerator is my favorite thing in my apartment. Not because of what is in my fridge, because of what is ON my fridge. I think you can tell a lot about a person by what is on their fridge. Some people have cool magnets, others have photos, some have menus from favorite restaurants, some people keep theirs bare. My fridge is covered with all kinds of great stuff. I have pictures - of my brothers, my friends, my friends' children. I have magnets that people have given to me, from different places and programs that I have been, some chosen for their strength in holding things onto the fridge, some chosen for nostalgic reasons. I have Magnetic Poetry magnets that my dad gave to me - my roommate and I sometimes spell out messages to each other on the fridge. I have notes and letters from people that mean a lot to me. I have my candlelighting times, and a pre-Shabbos checklist. I have a few clippings from newspapers that represent inside jokes or things I want to remember. People are definitely the central focus of my fridge, which I hope is an indication of what is important in my life. I am the type of person who cares a lot less about things being orderly than about them being meaningful. I understand that each person has his own way of doing things, but I find it sad when someone is so concerned with everything matching that they can't bring themselves to display a memento that reminds them of someone they love. I guess because I am so far away from so many of my friends, I love my reminders of them on my refrigerator, I love seeing those reminders every time I go in the kitchen. To me, my fridge is a lot more than a place to keep my food cold.