Mary would walk into her apartment; hang up her coat, hat and purse on the coat rack. Then her keys would be placed on a key holder in the shape of a key, hanging on the wall. She would sometimes have mail that she would neatly sort and place on a nearby table. These actions, simple and coordinated, were symbols of being a grownup.
When the Mary Tyler Moore Show first aired, I was 7. Probably not the demographic they were going for, but it appealed to me for all 7 seasons. I wouldn't be the first to think that show shaped some, if not many, of my world views about being an adult woman.
When I got my own apartment (without roommates), I remember constantly looking through catalogs for an object to hold my keys. I never got anything back then, because I couldn't justify the few-dollar expense when I was only able to afford an apartment with multi-color, harvest gold shag carpet. Browsing the catalogs for this item became a hobby, but I couldn't pull the trigger.
Doing the big things in life, buying a car or house or even when I decided to have kids on my own didn't make me feel like an adult. Those decisions just felt like me. I thought about them, figured out what I needed to do and then did them.
Not a conscious thing, but a key holder is the equivalent to being an adult. It would mean I'm organized and had it together. Just like Mary. Always an ambition, but not a major one I felt worth truly pursuing. Other things got in the way. Now, my keys do get put in the same place most of the time, not in a special holder, but on the credenza near the door. The mail stacks up in piles nearby.
Perhaps this is why 50 seems so overwhelming. Shouldn't I have a key holder by now?
MTM was my idol too. I often looked for a big M for my first solo apartment!
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