Far Away—But Still Connected
My children—and now my granddaughter--live in Denver; we
live in New Jersey. It’s roughly 1700 miles apart. Why they live in Denver
isn’t really the issue (it is, but I’ve learned to live with it). Fortunately,
through the miracle of the phone (especially the cellphone) and the Internet, I
can be in touch with them frequently. Sometimes probably a little too much.
But the distance doesn’t matter because it’s almost like
they’re still here. Or at least, some of their “stuff” remains. I literally just got
the clothes in the closets completely cleared out by putting my foot down and
demanding when they thought they’d be wearing the garments that either no longer fit or are so totally out of date they
wouldn’t be caught dead in them. Some things went to Denver; the rest went to the
donation box--we're very big on donations here, whether it's clothes, or furnishings, or anything else someone else can use, but that's not relevant just now. But I still have accessories and books. Many, many books.
Donation box
My daughters are both readers. The older one has actually
winnowed the book inventory down, but they’re still there. The younger one has
a completely filled bookcase and can’t decide what to do. I don’t blame her; I
don’t like to get rid of books either, but decisions have to be made.
I’ve been
purging “stuff” from the rest of the house for a couple of years—at one point,
I had things at the curb for the “whatever” garbage pickups for 6 months in a
row. I think the neighbors were expecting a “For Sale” sign on the front lawn
at any moment, but we’re still here, and I have more to purge. But a lot is
gone.
But what to do with books, and old school “stuff”? It’s a
cord that stretches from the new home to the old, and one day it will have to
be cut (metaphorically speaking). I’d like the snipping to happen sooner rather
than later--as in the next week.
There’s another purge coming.
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