Last Thursday husband and I went to my family home to deal with “my stuff”. I knew that there should be certain things there that I wanted - not many - and I sort of figured that there would not be much more in the closet I had to go through.
A digression - yeah, I always do same, without labeling it - I am the oldest of 3 girls and there are big age jumps between us - 5 years to #2 and another 7 years to #3. When my family bought the house I was 4 or 5 years old - it was then built to order in a 1950s subdevelopment - and my sister #2 was born several months before we moved in. The house as shown in the model house had 5 bedrooms - 2 regular and a master bedroom on one floor and another 2 bedrooms (and a 4th bathroom) on the floor above it. The house is a split level so floors not on top of each other they alternate back and forth. My parents did not need the extra 2 bedrooms or the 4th bathroom and wanted to save money, so that floor was not finished into rooms when we moved in. I had one bedroom of the 2 regular ones and my sister #2 - baby in a crib - was put in the other one. The house stayed with this layout and each of us in our bedrooms for about 7 or 8 years. At that time sister #3 was born. My parents idea was that they would now finish the upstairs and have a bedroom for me, an office for my dad, and the fourth bathroom up there. Being only about 12 and not knowing that in the future I would love the idea of a bedroom so private, I refused to move up there and sleep alone. So instead my parents made it into a second (larger) master bedroom. Sister #2 moved into my bedroom. Dad got an office in her old bedroom. Sister #3 and I moved into the original master bedroom. This worked great. When sister #2 got married a year before I did over 10 years later, I left sister #3 with the original master bedroom and moved back to my original room - which by then had sister #2's furniture in it, except her desk, and I left my furniture with sister #3 = except for my desk. The house arrangement remained the same after that until I married a year later and moved out and then sister #3 moved out some 10 years later when she was married. So, the room I had to clear out was not filled with items from when I was a child, but rather items I had after college. I took almost all of my stuff either when we were first married or 9 years later when we bought a house. Just a cute story - I had picked this bedroom originally as the room in the model had a little rocking chair - no one told me that the house did not come with what was on display in it and I thought I would get the rocking chair - boy was I disappointed.
So, back to clearing out the room. I had expected to walk in and see my old bed and a room as I left it. Hah! Either my mom had turned it into a mess of a storage room or my sisters had been throwing stuff in there to decide what to do with as they have been there several times to work on clearing out the house.
My desk was not there as I have it here and use it as my desk - and still hit my knee on the leg of it as I did when I was a child. I looked at the dresser in the room and started opening drawers. As I thought they were empty but with 2 exceptions. When I was baby I had a dresser set (not a child’s set, a grown up person’s set). It had 2 small china dishes and a china box with lid. I have one of the dishes still on my dresser and thought the rest gone - I knew the box’s lid and the other dish were broken and presumed that I had forgotten about breaking the box - but there it was!! And in it was my girl scout knife and a couple of other small items. Took it and the contents to go through - the box will go back on my dresser. In another drawer I found a small tack hammer and two small boxes of tacks - not mine and I left them.
It was rather hot when we were there. I had asked sister #2 - who is coordinating all of this as she seems to know what to do - in advance if the air conditioners were working - she said yes, but not well. Husband put on same in the original master bedroom and the one in the dining room (covers same, living room and kitchen). Not much cool. So as I am working he is starting to get overhot. I sent him to the dining room then to outside several times to cool off.
I should say at this point - this entire process would have been harder for me if not for Hurricane Sandy. Most of our toys were in the basement. If I had to decide which toys to take and which to donate or toss it would have been close to impossible. Since mom’s basement was flooded in the Hurricane, everything down there had been tossed out - including her washer, dryer, furnace etc. (furnace was replaced, but she decided to go to a laundry for her clothes). No more Barbies (I have one trunk of them I had brought here). No more doll house that I got when I was 3 or 4. No more games. No more Bobbsey Twins, Honey Bunch, Nancy Drew, Dana Girls, etc books.
I opened the closet door expecting a mostly empty closet - OH BOY. I started taking stuff out. I found a red looseleaf book that I had copied folk songs into while in high school - took as I hoped to find it. I found love letters from husband - definite take. I found 2 art projects from college - painting - took (I am not a good artist and it actually came out good), cut out initials - toss. I had expected/hoped to find my dad’s army shirt - he had given it to me back in the late 1960s when “hippies” wore same - it had reproduced and I took both of them. While I know that the rank and badges on them are not right, I figure one of the military museums might like and his name would go down in posterity (and my nephew had previously said the did not want same) so they were a definite take. Some “awards” drawn by a friend who was editor in chief of our college yearbook (before I was) had been taped on the inside of the door - took the one I found - hope to find at least one more.
For a closet it was lacking in clothes. As mentioned, my dad’s army shirts were in there. There was a pink gown. I took it out. We looked at it and then at each other. I was maid of honor at sister # 2's wedding - I wore brown (the others wore orange - fat girls don’t wear orange). I was not in my other sister’s wedding party - and did not buy a gown for same. I had not worn a gown to the afternoon wedding of the sister of my old high school boyfriend. What the heck was it for? It looked to be in good condition - I hung it over the top of the bedroom door and went on. I found a sweater I bought in Mexico - tossed it. If husband was not there I would have put it in a donate bag - but he insisted it was not wearable. I found a “genuine” 1960's/early 1970's peasant blouse - hung it over the bedroom door. (Sister #2 has come across so much clothing from that period in the house that she plans to contact theatrical costume houses to see if they want them - she can add the blouse and gown.) My college house plan (similar to a sorority) windbreaker - took that. I also hung a green jacket over the door - I have no idea whose it is, but it would not have fit me at 12 years old, let alone when I was grown.
I found an assortment of papers I had written (brought them home to shred as my personal info on them). I found needlework - kits and almost finished. Husband had me leave the 2 latch hook rugs - hooking finished, rug edges not finished there. (If we go back and they are still there I will take them home - I decided I really want them.) Two embroidery kits - not finished, I took. One unstarted latch hook kit - left for donation or sale.
I also found a complete, unopened set of “spurtles”. These were cooking utensils that a TV chef named Graham Kerr used. We had apparently bought 2 sets - either to give the second set as gift or for when the others broke - they are still in great condition. We opened the box and took the spurtles out and tossed the box.
Then I hit the problem. Apparently when we lived in our apartment we used this closet for storage of - yes - empty boxes. Cabbage Patch Dolls, fancy teddy bears, etc - empty boxes - you know, because they will be worth a fortune one day. I did not take the boxes - but since I had not thought that there would be this much stuff - I did not have enough garbage bags so the boxes had to stay for next time.
I filled 3 large bags of garbage. I could not put it out as there would be no pickup until the following Monday and the house is near an animal preserve and the animals come and go through the bags. I left them in the living room - sisters would be there on the weekend to put it out.
There was a section of stuff still on the top shelf that was not boxes - but neither of us could reach them safely and husband was soaked through his shirt and we needed to leave.
Problem - I had not figured out how to pack the stuff we were taking in plastic bags and seal them without them coming into the house (that bed bug fear). So I carried the stuff I was taking down to the front door and husband held a bag outside and little by little I filled 2 bags of stuff to take. They are now in our garage - I will take it out a bit at time and heat it in our Packtite bedbug heater - just in case.
I am missing an item I would like to have. I embroidered a tablecloth while in high school. When I got married I went looking for it - I could not find it. I have looked a couple of times since. I told both my sisters about it and asked that if they find it they save it for me.
As we were driving home husband commented on the lack of air conditioning in the house. He had seen the one in the office (bedroom next to mine - remember?) but could not get to it as that room is completely filled. I then remembered - there was one in my bedroom! He insisted that there was none - unless it was removed and the wall fixed it should be there - not sure it works, but we will look next time we are there.
Sister #2 insists that we are almost done - I am not sure how - there is soooooo much there of mom’s..
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK -
One can go home again - but mostly to clear out home. Why not post about your experience in something like this?
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