I’m moving. I love where I live now, but it’s time to move
closer to my parents, so my husband and I are pulling up stakes this summer and
moving to Montana. I’m excited to be closer to my mom and excited to have a new
house, however…there’s this one small problem. I haven’t moved in twenty-two
years.  |
| My new view--as of this summer. So excited! |
Do you have any idea how much stuff a person can accumulate
in that length of time?
A lot.
My house has a
full basement and I have packed that sucker to the gills. Now I have to sort
and toss and prioritize…and convince myself that the object is not the same as
the memory.
Hard lesson—especially when I keep finding cool things I’d
forgotten about, like, say, the velvet pants I wore in high school. Surely I’ll
be a size 2 again and hip-hugger button-front crushed-velvet jeans will come
back into style. Right?
 |
| The engagement boots--35 years later. |
And what to do with the engagement boots? My husband and I met
in college, where we were geology students, and instead of buying a ring, we
spent the money on something we honestly needed—well-made his and her hiking
boots. I still have mine. His wore out long ago and we can’t remember what
happened to them. I’ll probably find them while packing up the rest of the
basement.
But I can’t move everything, so I’m going to hire a hit man.
I’ll put the stuff I need to get rid of in a certain area of the basement and
ask my son to haul it away. And then I’ll hope that he gets the right stuff,
because otherwise, he’ll be back at the donation place buying it all back.
Are you a saver or a tosser? Let me tell you—right now, I’m
suffering from a huge case of tosser-envy.
10 comments:
I'm a saver who's seen the light and try to take a garbage bag to Good Will...er...often. We've been here 38 years and I'm starting to be concerned about leaved a mess of flotsam for our kids to contend with.
Happy moving!
Dear Jeannie - first of all, I am most definitely not a tosser. My daughter is 28 and her stuff still covers the floor of her room, and has crept into 2 other srooms. I hate throwing things out but I do take bags of stuff to the chairy shop, thinking it will come in useful. But I think you also need to know that 'Tosser' is a pretty rude slang word in the UK - like w*nker it's used as an insult or to refer to males, largely. You might hear it in British movie comedies, or even rom coms - Simon pegg or Ricky gervais type of thing - and all the time in British everyday speech. So your post has gone rather viral among friends and fellow authors.None of us want to admit to being tossers!!!
I pretty much save everything too. I have stuff packed into every corner of my house. I would dread moving all of that stuff. I hope everything goes well during your move.
Oh my gosh--Philiipa, so funny! Should I change the name of the blog? I've never gone viral with anyone before.
Janine and Liz--now that I've recovered from discovering I'm envying something I'm probably not, I must say it's great to know others save things. I still have a lot of my kids' stuff, which they've left for me to keep and now the day of reckoning is also upon them. What do they want to keep? I've received no clear answers yet.
No, don't change it! You're only viral among my US and Uk friends at the moment! It's a great example of 'two countries divided by a common language'!
you will feel lighter getting rid of stuff--smooth move wishes
Hi Jeannie,
We're picking up and moving permanently to Montana, too, this summer. Bought a house last year so we could be closer to a couple of our kids! Trouble is, we've been in this house 43 years! So double the amount of stuff we've accumulated from what you've accumulated and you can sympathize with how much we are having to go through! See you in Montana!
Phillipa--I did a small addendum to the title. Now I feel slightly less clueless.
jcp--I think you're right. Once I get past the small grieving stage, I think I'll be happier.
Anne--How lovely that we're moving to Montana for the same reasons only reversed. And yes! See you in Montana! (And I don't envy you 43 years of stuff. Not one bit.)
I try to be a tosser because my parents are hoarders
Denise
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