Opened
my email this morning—found a note from my friend Shirley.
You have been
heavily on my mind the last few weeks....I wondered why. Now I know. Downsizing
must be the most dreaded geriatric malady next to shingles.
Recently I have peeked into overflowing closets, extracted a coat
hanger and said "enough for today."
Florida was our 9th
move. The other 8 were less traumatic because I packed everything with
me.
Twenty-two years
ago I left my treasures in an Iowa ditch. Up to that time Early American
everything had been my life. My consolation the neighbor, watching from
her upstairs window, swooped in to forage things the moment we drove out of sight.
The same thing will
happen when we leave Florida except I will not be angry. I am accustomed to
seeing personal contents from other people's lives stacked on the curb by angry
faced adult children. (Shirley has worked as a caregiver for ten years or more.
Most of her clients are elderly or infirmed. She has seen many die.)
On the upside, our
daughters-in-law will send their husbands. Those three will pitch and make
baskets with my K-mart vases and their baby pictures. In anticipation, I
am going to draw some beards and moustaches on the latter just to let them know
that once again old mom is one step ahead of them.
 |
| clothes closet from freedigital photos |
Don’t you love Shirley, even if you don’t know
her, the wisdom and humor she stuffs in a short email are priceless—a good
reminder—I need to forge through photos this week or maybe copy them into the
computer for future reference.
Love this post, Kat. Even though I find myself in the same house stuffed to the max with .....years of memories. Stuff that came from Mom's house, mother-in-law's house and our daughter's things. I've done the photos. But don't know how many years it will take to sort the rest. Perhaps another day...
ReplyDeleteDiAne
Yeppers DiAne, we are in the same situation plus I'm a garage sale fiend. Told someone recently that I banned myself from all second hand stores and all garage sales. He said, "What fun is that?" Somehow it's been easier to stay away from those places than staying out of the stuff in the kitchen I shouldn't eat.
ReplyDeleteLove your whit and humor, Kat.
ReplyDelete