Decluttering

 

WOW !!!! That’s one quick way to declutter a house!! The bulldozer came and razed the entire little brick building, contents and all. Muriel Weinstein had died, and Moe had moved down to Florida. Their children sold the house and were left with the task of emptying it. I was told to go in and help myself to any items I wanted. Six white plates with a delicate Chinese pattern pleased me. The remainder was left for the bulldozer. Sadly, this included the Weinstein’s library of hundreds of Law books. The bulldozer leveled a charming Cape Cod house to make way for a not charming McMansion. I cried watching the angry monster attacking the house, mixing its contents with soil and leaving an empty site for the new one. Yes, that’s one sad quick way to declutter a house.

Decluttering had become part of my daughter’s mission. She had read The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo and started decluttering and organizing her own house and then she was on to me. “Mom, you have to get rid of things,” she pleaded. When she visited from Boston, I held my breath because I knew what was in store. “Okay, we can attack the medicine cabinet,” I conceded. “The pills from 1990 have expired and the band-aids that have lost their adhesive quality can all go. We don’t need all those moisturizers, conditioners and shampoos I’ve collected from our hotel stays.” 

Emily was staying with me for five days while my husband was in Florida decluttering or actually getting rid of the entire contents of his sister’s apartment since she had recently passed away. She would have been 100 years old in November. We were advised you call in Faith Farm and they take it all. Each of Emily’s five-day visit to my house was to declutter using the Konari Method “ ...an easy, simple, practical and actionable guide for everyone.”

I know my daughter is right. Ben and I are hoarders. We have accumulated a lot of stuff. ”Let’s attack the attic," I suggest. There’s a pull-down staircase and up there in that hot dusty world, there’s a lifetime of collected items that are housed in old camp trunks and suitcases without wheels. Remember when you traveled with American Tourister luggage? Each piece was so sturdy that I’m convinced, if the suitcase fell out of a moving airplane it would land safely and intact. If they needed to be weighed, they were overweight empty. They were great for storage in the hot, dusty attic. The red Tourister had all the hand knit baby sweaters, and matching hats. Aunt Frieda had made each newborn child four of these as well as the carriage covers. Additional hand knit sweaters came for each child’s birthday. The grey Tourister suitcase without wheels had all the hand sewn pants and dresses I made for each of my children. Teachers would often ask them where I bought their clothing because I used such unusual fabric. My daughter agreed that we could not give these handmade treasures to Goodwill. Instead, I will be decluttering my attic and adding them to Emily’s attic for any of her possible future grandchildren. The camp trunks housed scratchy woolen army blankets, originally used at sleep away camp. These can go to Goodwill. So. you see, we are making progress, a small dent. We have four more days to go, and I am still loving every precious day I have with my daughter, the declutterer.

Ethyl H