Have you ever cleaned out childhood memories from your deceased parent’s home? Did you struggle knowing what to save and what to leave behind? Was it a titanic task (large furniture pieces) or a small, albeit, meaningful chore? Were there aches and pain regrets of abandoned items that you just had to leave behind?
Hi Everyone:
I’m in the process of cleaning out my parent’s home. There are years and years of stuff. Good stuff, not junk.
Death of friends and family is no fun.
Cleaning up and out of mom and dad’s possessions has been a giant journey.
Our estate sale ended yesterday. It lasted for three days. I didn’t swing by the sale a single time.
I go over today to see what is left to mull over. I’m sad and scared thinking about what I will (or won’t!) find.
There were so many photos you wouldn’t believe it. I know I’ve said that before but, seriously, ask my family how many snapshots and slides I inspected. Without question mom was a zealous photographer.
The strange thing is, her nickname could easily have been Frugal Fran. Mom did not spend money frivolously. But boy she didn’t hesitate to part with pennies on photo processing.
I’m so glad that was the case because memory after memory is brought to life by the amount of photos she snapped over 92+ year’s time.
When estate sale stagers discovered yet more photographs that I had missed, I told them that I didn’t want to take any more cards, letters or photos. “Get rid of them,” I said. But when I arrived at the house the next day after they staged, guess what I found? They had put aside another [large] box of photos. And sure enough, I acquiesced and took yet another mass of memories home to sift through.
Life is so very short.
Jeff says we’re all basically “farts in the wind.”
That’s about the best analogy I’ve ever heard.
What do you think?
Who among us regards themself as more than a fart in the wind?
Cleaning out and going through Papa and Gam’s stuff has been a monumental task for my whole family.
Thankfully, there’s light at the end of the tunnel.
Glancing around my office, that statement is hard to believe. There is still a lot of sorting to accomplish. But, in a few short hours I will find out what was orphaned at their house and decide if I want to bring that home too, for memory's sake.
Why write all this? Will anyone read it? Will anyone care?
Jeff and I judged a homeschool speech/debate tournament last week. One of the speeches was about the benefits of journaling. The young girl who spoke gave a compelling speech of proven reasons how journaling helps relieve stress, fear and anxiety. Have you ever tried journaling for those reasons?
Making friends on common ground, like journaling, is a favorite life-goal-forever aspiration of mine. I’d love to hear from you.
Thank you for reading!
Love, Shelley
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