Sometimes You Have to Do It

I am moving to a new apartment this coming Saturday, 7/12/08, and I have started going through all of my stuff, throwing away some things, and boxing up the rest for the movers, and until you have to do something like that, you never really know just how much STUFF you have.

Most of the things I've been throwing away were belongings of my grandmother, who passed away nearly two years ago. When I cleaned out her apartment at the retirement home, the nick-knacks and other mementos that I didn't give to Goodwill I boxed up and they've been sitting in a corner of my bedroom since.

I loved my grandmother deeply, but she was a pack-rat (Hey, I come by it honestly). It was hard going through these boxes, knowing as I did that most of the things I would be getting rid of and never seeing again. It was like I was getting rid of little bits of her, that I was losing her all over again.

I am reminded of a bit of (most likely) apocryphal history regarding Queen Victoria. When she was getting ready to marry Prince Albert (and I have some trivia about him, but that's for another time) she needed the advice of another woman regarding her upcoming 'duties' as a wife. She was not on speaking terms with her mother, the Duchess of Kent, at this time, so she turned to her governess, Baroness Lehzen. When the queen asked the baroness about what she would have to do when her soon to be husband came into her room that night, the baroness is said to have replied "Close your eyes, and think of England".

Sometimes, that's all you can do, and that is what I have been doing. I have been closing my eyes when I have come across something of my grandmother's while packing up my apartment. I haven't been thinking of England of course, I've been thinking of my grandmother. I know in my heart, she would not have wanted me to dwell as much in the past as I have been. She would have wanted me to move on and get rid of the things she left behind that serve no practical purpose anymore. So far, I've taken out three garbage bags of stuff to the dumpster, but I have a lot more to go. I needed a break though.

By the way, if anyone needs some used (gently) luggage, let me know. Some of you have my phone number, some of you have my e-mail, and you are all free to post a request on the comments section. It's easy, just move the little arrow down to the bottom of this post and click the word "comments". It's just that easy.