But in one respect, we did get a lot done yesterday. On one trip to town, Hubby took another car load of stuff from our house to the thrift store. And then after our afternoon trip to town, we went back to his place and started work again. He did the one job that I did not feel that I could do with any clarity and that was going through the files. Seven filing cabinet drawers…and then there was another one in another room that I bagged up. (I walked in with a big bag of papers and said, I am throwing out a hunk of your youth—the gas station records.)
I used to think my husband’s mother never threw out anything but I have found that it was both of them. This cleaning out over the years and then in this final push, has been not without some admiration, because amongst the accumulations of it all, there are bits and pieces of the history of this couple. Files saved of artwork and notes from his kids and grandkids. Hubby found a file yesterday that kind of tells it all. In one file folder labelled, Very Important to me…there one single item. It was a paper kitchen napkin with a note written on it. It simply said, “Going to have my hair done. Groceries and errands. Your loving wife, Betty. In other little notes, I have read, “To My Loving Wife…” this was language that was spoken between them although it was more private than public. These are the true treasures of our lives.
I attempted to burn but my burn barrel was too small and it was cold and sprinkling rain on me AND I also almost fell again getting my feet tangled up in the handle of a plastic sack on the way out the door. That twisted my back and hips up AGAIN in the process causing some extra discomfit afterwards because of it. (Have I mentioned I need to go to the chiropractor??) So I decided that this was not to my liking and decided that on a different day, I was going to back the truck up to the door and put all of these papers into the back and drive it out to the burn hole and burn it. As my dad likes to say, “smarter, not harder!”
As it was pushing way past supper time, we decided to load up the Suburban with “stuff” that we knew was not going to the thrift store and bring it on over. Just exactly what I was going to do with it I am not sure but as Scarlett liked to proclaim, “I will think about that tomorrow” for now, we must get this clean out part of the job done. Time is ticking. Another good sorting will probably find most of it in the thrift store but for now, I need to stay focused on pushing things out the doors at one house and into the doors of another.