Stuff

We moved two weeks ago but we are still moving in. We had a storage unit full of stuff that wouldn’t fit in the apartment. We are slowly moving it box by box, piece by piece into the house where we are living.

Funny thing, stuff. How can we still have so much after giving what seemed like most of it away last year? We do. I am going through all this stuff I had packed away and am getting rid of a lot of it…again.

I decided it was time to get rid of my kids’ school papers…you know, the ones that prove they really did learn to read, write, do math. As a homeschool mom those papers marked an important passage into the next phase. Or maybe it just served as a relief factor, an assurance of sorts that they really did learn to do those things I just mentioned. I have proof! All but one has graduated from high school so I figure it’s time to toss them…or most of them anyway. Of course I saved a few!

Why is it so hard to part with stuff from our past? Why are we compelled to save the things that have been handed down from generation to generation? Most of what I have it isn’t worth much monetarily speaking, however, the historic value is priceless. Maybe it’s proof once again, that the people who have passed on, regardless of whether we knew them personally or not, really did exist. And maybe it brings us comfort to know that one day, when we are gone from this life, there will be proof that we were here as well.

I don’t really know the answer to this ‘stuff’ subject. Some folks never save a thing and that’s okay. What I do know for sure, though, is I still have stuff to go through and decide if I should keep or toss, and if I decide to toss then do I give it away or throw it away? If I decide to keep do I store it (again) or find it a home amid our other stuff?

It’s just stuff and you can’t take it with you. In fact, if I save it all then my kids will have to go through it and make the decision. Doesn’t seem fair but maybe that’s just the way it is. Time keeps ticking. People keep gathering things and those that are left behind get the choice on what to do with it all. Lucky them.

For now, though, I have stuff to deal with. And I have a feeling, I’ll be holding on to way more than I need.