Downsizing... Sort Of

by Joanne Rock

My July book is The Forbidden Brother!

I’d never make it in a tiny house.

I’m clearing out my home this month as I’m contemplating a move. I’ve got furniture for sale to thin down what I own, and I’m dragging boxes out of storage to get rid of everything I don’t need. It’s so much tougher than it sounds.

Last week, I assured one of my sons that I wanted to get rid of everything I had boxed up in the attic. I figured if I didn’t look at it, I couldn’t get sucked into nostalgia or into thinking I might need something again. I had a vague idea that the paperwork was all from former jobs before I started writing romance. There were graduate school papers up there too, work that I’m proud of but since I probably won’t re-enter the academic world, it’s nothing I’ll need. Yet I feared that if I started looking through the boxes, I’d find things I wanted to keep. Sentimental memories of trips taken, friends that I don’t see anymore, you know the drill. So I gave an executive order to toss it all.

A few hours later, my son came downstairs with a photo of his brother as a toddler, the cutest picture imaginable. He said, “Are you sure you don’t want to check in the boxes first?”

There went my resolve! I had to dig through the old things, fearing I might throw away something vital. Yes, it ended up taking hours of my time, but it was really fun to walk down memory lane. I found photos from graduate school and remembered fun classes I took with people I haven’t seen in eons. A photo of a bear that I apparently saw in person in the Smoky Mountains and have no memory of. How could I forget photographing a bear in a tree? On the back of the photo, I wrote in ink, “The infamous bear!” Well apparently he was only infamous briefly as I’d forgotten all about him.

Thankfully, I did end up throwing away most of the box. Brilliant essays gone forever! All my carefully archived press releases written for my first job. All my memories from the time as a TV promotions director—in the recycle bins now. It would be easier if I could tell myself that I’ll always have the memories in my head, but if the bear is any indication, I actually don’t have a good mental record of the past! Maybe I should be glad that my life has been so wonderfully full I simply can’t recall all of it.

Win the follow-up to
The Forbidden Brother

I learned that it pays to have a strong son to help my cleaning endeavors. Also, that executive orders aren’t always a good idea given my faulty memory. And, as I sit here with a file folder full of old photos, I have learned that I’d never be a candidate for life in a tiny house. Who knows, there might be a book waiting to burst out of these old images, after all. I don’t want to miss out.

*** Tell me whether or not you’d be game to try living the tiny house trend, and I’ll give one random poster a copy of my August release, Wild Wyoming Nights! Learn more about all the McNeill Magnates stories at my website, and while you're there, make sure to enter my monthly contest.

Things and People: Susan Sands

This should be a blog about books since I have a new book coming out October 26th! I'm so excited about that and want to give it a good promotional shout for it. Christmas, Alabama is available now for pre-order!

Available October 26th

But there are so many other things happening in my life right now that I must purge them onto this page.

Many of us are in a similar place in life where our children are growing up and leaving the nest, while our parents are becoming more needful of us in physical, emotional, and sometimes financial ways. They become our new dependents as their parents became during their aging cycle. It's a life shift that isn't easy for anyone. But it is a transition that happens.

My husband and I are trying to sell our house and downsize. We've just rid ourselves via a three-day professionally-run, estate sale of most of our furniture and household items and accessories with the idea that our house would show and sell better with empty closets and rooms free of clutter. This week we move my dad into memory care. Next month, my mom moves in with us. My daughter is filling out college applications and visiting colleges and will graduate in the spring. Oh, yes, and I have that new book coming out...

So, our house goes back on the market in a week or two after the last offer fell through.

But we're all okay for now. People matter. Things don't. It was easy to get rid of them. We have each other. We all get along pretty well. We're working together as a team to accomplish all these goals. We work for grace every day. Some days are better than others.

I wish you grace in your life struggles.

Susan Sands