Until we started to pack to move from our home of 35 years, I was sure my spouse was the only pack rat living in our house. Once I started to go through storage boxes that were on the top of my bedroom closet, I had to admit I was one also. However, the reasons we clung to basically worthless items were totally different. He kept stuff he felt had potential value, like National Geographic magazines, record collections, and cameras. I stored expensive clothing that hadn't fit in years and white-elephant gifts given by loved ones.
When you move, you pay by the amount of cartons and furniture that goes on the truck. And if your new home has fewer closets as mine would, you need to be realistic. My cousin, who knew that my husband and I were disagreeing as to what should be discarded or kept, gave us great advice, "Buy another cemetery plot next to yours and bury the stuff."
Those words, plus my son saying, "Either you dump it now, or I will when I move you to assisted living," sped up the downsizing process especially because the plastic statue he held up when he said it, was one I took from my mother when we moved her to an assisted living.
Sorting through the garage, storage closets, and bedrooms that once were home to our sons was beyond our physical capabilities. The cavalry – our two sons – came to the rescue. They packed cartons filled with memorabilia from their childhood – dozens of trophies, yearbooks, and framed team photos. The massive, framed sign-in posters from their bar mitzvahs stood in the rear seat of their cars when they pulled out of the driveway. Our new home office – an office that would no longer be referred to as one son's bedroom – would be filled with mementoes from our current lives.
Even though Florida houses have no basements, and attics are too hot to use for storage, it doesn't decrease the amount of things that pack rats accumulate. It is amazing how high boxes can be piled on the shelves in the bedroom and hall closets. After the interior of the house was organized, we tackled the garage, the hardest "room" for my husband to downsize. The cartons stacked on both sides of the garage hid his stash of broken radios, telephone answering machines and other electronics, none of which had any kind of monetary value. Shelves of broken and useless tools as well as his collection of screws and nails were dumped. He wasn't happy and still is upset about this. He reminds me every time he has to buy nails, ignoring the fact they were never the size he needed.
We moved into our home, unpacked, and found a place for everything. You could actually see the walls in the garage. I knew in my heart that all the processions we moved had a place in our new life. My husband and I vowed to no longer collect useless items and to live clutter free. Five years later, the state of our garage speaks to the validity of that promise. Anyone need a computer key board in perfect condition? How about a burgundy lamp shade?
Eda Suzanne, the author of Retired NOT Expired, is a freelance writer and humorous speaker. Her website is www.edasuzanne.com and you may contact her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .