...are the clutter and collections left behind by the girl who is now the young woman, away at college. She will not entirely appreciate my sifting and sorting, but it needs to be done, for me if for no one else. I get too wistful and I am stuck with this 'girl image' when I pass all the memorabilia on her door saved from high school, middle school and even before those years. So, I am starting slowly, tackling just the bookshelves and the box of saved school papers from under the desk; I found some very good essays that lit me up from the inside out. Nary a quiz, test, or essay had anything less than 93% at the top. I threw out her Latin and Spanish study cards, and most math. I went through every notebook and tablet (the assortment of writing materials was truly enormous) and I salvaged unused paper; I think we have enough to support a second high school student. I tested every writing implement, saving only those that were actually usable. Don't worry Honey Girl, I have saved the majority of the books. Some will actually stay on the bookshelf, the others are going to be boxed and stashed away; and those boxes will be hefty. Chances are when I finally insist she remove them from our attic she will say, "Now why did I want to save all this?"
Speaking of saving...this is a book from my childhood that I found on her shelf. When I was growing up there really was not much nonfiction written for children. I do not know who gave this Whitman Learn About Book to me but I absolutely loved it! I would pour over the pages again and again and then I would take apart dying flowers to find all the parts that were diagrammed in the book. My interest in gardening has deep roots. And now that the sun is piercing the morning fog I just might escape to do some outside weeding. I hate weeding, but I need a break from sifting through all these memories.
6 comments:
That's a very good idea to go through all that clutter. She may not thank you now, but she certainly will when it's time to decide what to do with it in the future. (And it sounds like a nice, nostalgic way to spend non-gardening free hours for you.)
Such a daunting task. Thanks for stopping by, it is a pleasure to meet you.
That's the difference between boys and girls. My son is off at college too, but I can guarantee that if I went through the things in his room, they would most definitely NOT include any remnants of high school!
Thanks for the visit to my blog today. I'm so glad you stopped by!
I definetly remember the book. Perhaps your dad bought it since he loves flowers so much also.
Mom
It's been so long since I have been here. So sorry! I am starting here and will be going backwards. I am assuming you are on Spring Break? Maybe? I am. I go back on Monday, April 7. So does daughter know that you have done this yet? The door reminds me of something from a movie where you see a grownup's room at their family home-with all of their childhood memories still there.
Mercedes,
She does know as of yesterday 'cuz I had questions about what to pitch, what to keep. She said she wished I had waited because she would have done the clean up. She conveniently forgot I had told her to do so over last summer. Your comment about the grown-ups room at the family home is exactly what I want to avoid.
Kind of makes me think of letting a toddler suck his/her thumb all the way into first grade, second grade, etc.
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