This past week was not only a walk down memory lane, but a healing within myself. For sixteen years I worked as the Head Archivist at Cranbrook Archives. It was a job I took great pride in. I learned about art and architecture, studied the crafts women and men who created the objects and the details which make the Cranbrook campus so unique. I was able to share my research with others – educating through blog posts, essays, and numerous presentations to internal and external groups.
After I left my position in 2018, and my daughter graduated in 2020, I did not return to the campus. However, last week, a trusted friend and I walked the grounds or visited a place on campus every day – the Academy of Art Museum and Library, the Rainbow Fountain, the Institute of Science, the most recent Archives space, Christ Church Cranbrook. I met up with old colleagues (some quite accidentally) and was able to appreciate the beauty of Cranbrook with a renewed perspective. Each day, old feelings dropped away and were replaced with a fresh look, a different experience, a new memory.
“Seeing” at Cranbrook is a hallmark of the experience. Seeing with all of your senses. Seeing the vision of the founders, George and Ellen Booth, in the enormity of the gift they gave – education, art, science – all to enrich others. Seeing the landscape – the water features, both natural and man-made, the paths through the woods, the old trees, the landscape crew readying flower beds for spring planting. Seeing the architecture again – the sculptural elements built into the buildings, the details and craftsmanship of such humble fixtures like downspouts – not the boring ones we have on our houses today, but beautifully crafted metal connectors. A small detail that many might not notice, but that enriches the overall experience. As a Booth family elder told me this week – look high and look low to really see the symbols and the details in every space. See Cranbrook for what it truly is – a gift – to inspire and enrich the lives of each of us as we experience it in our own way.
historicaresearch.com 
As time goes by, we benefit from developing a fresh perspective that we don’t recognize until we re-experience something outside our selves. I think this can happen when we watch a favorite old movie, re-read a classic book, or revisit our old home or stomping ground. We are so fortunate if we can revisit our personal past and see it with new eyes and new wonder. Thank you for your post!
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