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MOVING ON MEANS MOVING THROUGH MEMORIES

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Sue Ice[/caption]

I am in the process of downsizing in preparation for an upcoming move from a two-story home in which I have lived for 22 years to a six-room, one-story duplex. The move will occur two days from when this column runs.

So I am well into going through desks, closets, cupboards, chests of drawers, bookcases and attic spaces, disposing of things, many of which I have accumulated over a lifetime. And how things have accumulated!

I have thrown away 100 ball point pens which no longer write (I tried each of them), and I disposed of 40 years of calendars in which were written every appointment and event attended for the last 40 years.

So far, 17 boxes of books have left my house for good, with at least twice that many more to go. A good number of these books were collected on trips abroad about the places Ted and I visited, with the intention of reading them after I returned home when I had time. Why did I think I would have time to read them? I didn’t.

I came across a box of chocolates brought home from Barcelona, Spain, in 2012. They still tasted good, though a little dry.

I bit the bullet and threw away all the negatives of photos Ted and I had taken, going back to 1958 when our first child was born. In going through old letters, one has to read each one in order to determine why one saved them. This has been a real trip down memory lane, but most have now been recycled away. And I still don’t know why a lot of them were saved.

Through the years I have been very good about putting all photos of family, of friends and of trips in albums. However, for a period of time when Fotos Plus was in business, Gerre Brown made two prints of every photo developed. I was never able to throw away the second copy of any photo which I didn’t give away to someone. Therefore, I have discovered several stacks of second copy prints, which of course, have to be looked through before putting them in the recycle.

Going through the clothes in four closets and multiple drawers has been an adventure. Some of them dated back many, many years and made my daughter Nancy and I laugh uproariously. Nancy had to try on several of the hats and many of the clothing items. One item was a dress with a jacket, which Ted’s mother knitted for me about 35 years ago, a beautiful piece. It fits Nancy perfectly and is very much in style now. Nancy has kept it and, if you know her, encourage her to wear it!

This morning I took all of my clothes on hangers to my new duplex. This afternoon, I went back and brought back some of them so I would have something to wear.

I am excited about the move and my new abode. I know I am going to be happier having downsized and no longer needing to think, “I really need to go through things and declutter!” However, I also know that until one actually goes through the moving process, this doesn’t happen.

Is there anyone out there who can wave a magic wand so that this process is over and I am happily ensconced in my new, cozy duplex? Please?

Written by Sue Ice

Reposted with permission from Newton Now

Click here to see the original story.

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