Llano Drive, the closet under the stairway

When we added the extra story to our house in Plano, we ended up with a little closet under the stairs. The closet had been a small bar with metallic wallpaper that was used for little more than storage. I take that back. There was a faucet and sink that was used to fill up the watering can to water the plants in the atrium.

The small closet had a gradually lowered ceiling and some shelves. The details are a little fuzzy to me now. To get to the door of the closet you had to walk through the utility room and through the small bathroom. The closet may have housed many things, but the only thing I can remember are the soft drinks...the cokes.

Unlike my cousins, we were not allowed to have coke at any point during the day. I can still remember the shock of having a coke offered to me at breakfast. At breakfast?!! I couldn't recall the last ordinary day I had been allowed a coke, much less for breakfast. Cokes were very special in our house, only to be consumed on special occasions: birthdays, celebrations, holidays, as a remedy for a jelly fish sting, etc.

The amazing thing about that little closet was that you could lock the bathroom door and therefore, lock the closet. Thirsty for a coke? Sure. Special day? Not really, but now it is. My brother, sister, and I would go in, lock the door, and crack open a coke. The hard part was the evidence of the coke can. We would shut them in the drawers and hide them behind whatever we could find. I know my mother found random cans from time to time, but I don't remember getting in trouble for the evidence.

That closet was a great addition to the house.