Share a final moment

2/19/10 Childhood treasures, trashed & recycled; winter clothes, donated to the Salvation Army

Amanda visited us for two days and, at my urging, she and Joanna dove into two large storage bins mysteriously labeled "Personal Kid Stuff" and "Kid Stuff." I pulled them down from high up on a shelf in that darn basement. (One of the bins is actually visible in the upper right corner of the photo from this older post about my evil basement.)

Given the discussion that's popped up around my last few post regarding the challenge of downsizing sentimental items, this was a bold undertaking for my wife and sister-in-law. Items from their childhood, which connect them to their youth, each other, and, most importantly, their mother. Nonetheless, they tackled those bins with determination and set aside more than two-thirds of the contents for downsizing.

Let's take a moment to appreciate the strength that they exhibited today. How many of us can bear to let go of markers of our childhood, of our past? Before you answer, go look in your closets and your attic -- you've got some boxes labeled "Memories," I know it.

My favorite moment was when Joanna hesitated over a small craft piece she had made when she was three.

"Come over here," Amanda said, "Let's share a final moment with it."

Ah, listen to the wisdom in that. Rather than boxing it back up and forgetting it for another ten years, let's celebrate it and let it go.

And let it go, they did.

And what they couldn't throw out or recycle, we set aside for future downsizes for the library, school, and craigslist. Planning ahead.

On a side note, Amanda's search for new winter gloves gave us an opportunity to hand off a number of cold-weather items to her, and motivated us to take a bag-full of other such clothes immediately down to the local Salvation Army. (Chase needed an outing, anyway.)

Above all, another tiny chink has been taken out of that basement's armor. We shall defeat it.