Firstly, it’s October and it’s just beautiful outside! Yay! for that. I’m actually sitting outside on the patio as I type this. I love this time of year. I’ve not been this…relaxed…in October for years. (It was before I fully understood the weight of Tunes.) I say that, but as I type, I can see my own reflection in the screen and my brow is furrowed. I don’t even feel it. I should loosen up or that’ll be a wrinkle in forty years. November is coming, but, you know…one day at a time.
Ahem.
I have a storage unit where I store most of my stuff. I went there today to take some things there and to look for another thing (a mission on which I scored one out of two, sadly). While I was there, I took a look around and I thought about the stuff. My stuff. I have to admit, I miss my stuff. I miss my decorations, I miss my kitchen towels, I miss opening the drawer in my kitchen and seeing my rolling pin. I miss seeing my books. I will also freely admit that I have too much stuff.
I was joking around with one of my favorite people a few weeks ago and I admitted that I even keep email messages that are long past their prime. (Case in point: I have messages that people sent to me my very first day at my job in admissions. In February of 2002. See? I told you!) Unfortunately, my need to keep things extends to the physical world as well. I have all kinds of detritus from various stages in my life. It’s time to simplify. As it happens, I had the opportunity to retrieve (in other words, it was moved out of the place where it was and was then being stored in the garage in giant trash bags) some items I’d left at my Dad’s house when it was still my Mom and Dad’s house. The room I grew up in had two closets and I was using one of them for items I wanted to keep but didn’t really want to keep with me as I moved from place to place. When I bought my house in Arkansas, my Mom told me that it was time to get my stuff. I replied that I had no place to put that stuff in my 956 sq. foot house, so I bought a little bit more time.
Fast forward several years and I’m confronted with these bags of closet contents and it’s time to purge. I went through these bags today and am flooded/overwhelmed with memories. I found the t-shirt from the first church camp I went to (I believe it was the summer after fourth grade), t-shirts from college and many, many from the years in between. My Mom used to sew and I’ve kept just about everything she ever made for me. Those items were in the bags too. Years of church camp/mission trip tees. Old drill sheets from high school band. The wills from my high school senior class. I even found some of my girl scout patches! My letter jacket. The gown I wore when I graduated from college. Costumes and uniforms. What on earth do I do with all of this stuff? Most of it got thrown away, but I did keep the letter jacket (not sure why, but I’m not ready to get rid of it just yet), some of my favorite t-shirts, the items made by my mother and the very first letter shirt I received after pledge week. I also stumbled across my sole piece of Units clothing from high school. Those of you who are my contemporaries remember this stuff, and I had a navy jumpsuit/one piece and I loved it. It was a birthday gift, so this is the time of year that I would have been wearing it. In the spirit of full disclosure, I must admit that I not only kept the Units outfit (and the matching stretchy belt), but I’m currently wearing it. Right now. It’s very comfortable. It’s not pretty (and by that I mean if the house caught on fire, I’d change out of this get-up before I left the premises) but it’s cozy.
There was also a few items that belonged to my Mom mixed in there as she also used a closet in that room for storage. I’m not entirely sure how we missed these items when we sorted through her clothes, but I’m glad we did. I am much shorter and (currently) smaller than my Mom was, so I can’t wear her clothes, but I kept them just the same.
It’s been a good day, but I can see it going downhill if I don’t refocus my energy and my thoughts. I’m going to spend some more time on the patio this evening and enjoy this lovely fall day. I love October. I love this time of year. I miss my Mom and I probably miss you.
I wonder how much longer fall is going to make me feel like I should be on the road, traveling?
