We all have our favorite "junk". Every year our church has a "rummage" sale and we see a lot of those things on sale. A gentleman who used to work for me was always asking me when our church was having a rummage sale. He was delighted to find some great shirts for 25 cents !! I too have been guilty of dumping old stuff at these sales, but rarely do I go in and buy any of it, unless it is a book !! I am drawn to books on sale, or not on sale.
I was reminded of this recently when I went looking for some material in my stash of cloth. I did find what I was looking for and proceeded to use it. Most women who sew save cloth so that is not so unusual.
How many of them hang onto doll beds they had as a child? I have an oak doll bed which my father had made for me the Christmas I was twelve years old. I saved it and took it with me where ever I lived. My daughter played with it and she had it in her home before the birth of her first child. She even made a quilt for it, but alas her little boy was not much for dolls so it found its way back to me, here in Georgia. This bed originated in Ky., went to Maryland, and then on to Atlanta, Georgia, now in north Georgia and sitting on end with a broken leg ! But I cannot part with it. One day I will have the leg repaired and perhaps make a quilt for it myself - from some of that cloth I have been saving.
And then there are old photographs. It is a good thing that folks keep them. I only wish more of them had been saved. I love the picture of my baby brother at age 5 pulling back on the arrow to shoot what ever he had in his sight! And the picture of my father, his parents, sister, husband and boys all sitting on a porch for a family portrait is priceless. Once when my sister ran across a newspaper article in a historical search she let out a scream. Why? She had found a long lost photograph of our grandfather, professor C.W. Matthis. So, blessings on all of you who keep those family photographs, even when they were taken with a box brownie.
Wedding bands are hard to part with. I have two in my jewelry box. They will never be worn again. One reminds me of what a marriage is supposed to be and the other of what a marriage is not supposed to be. But they are both part of my life. I have jewelry given to me by my sister which is simply packed away. Some other pieces given to me are stored but not worn, still I cannot pitch them out, or put them in the rummage sale.
Paintings my oldest sister painted as far back as the 1960's are such a part of my home that it would seem wrong for them not to be there. Also I enjoy having them there as a part of my past which cannot be reclaimed.
How about papers that my children brought home from school in those early years? Guilty of keeping in storage. I run across them sometimes when I am looking for some records in my file cabinet and I still do not want to part with them. Also the cards and letters which came when the babies came. All of these things have a sentimental tug and are related to people who mean more to me than the things themselves. It may be that my subconscious mind is telling me that if I discard them I am discarding the ones I love and that I could never do.
This line of thinking caused me to remember the medicines on my shelf, so I took a look to see if I really needed all of those. I was amazed to see how many of them had expired years ago. Well, I have no emotional attachment to those. In fact it may not even be safe to have them around so without one twinge of regret I cleared off that medicine shelf and unceremoniously pitched them in the trash can. Now I have a nice clear space in that cabinet which can be used for something else. That was really easy to do ! While I am in that kind of mood I really should look in my closets to see what is there that could be cleared out to make room for something more stylish. That could even be fun !! The styles are always changing and last years clothing may seem a bit out of place today. It is not necessary to have a reason to go shopping but perhaps I can find one anyway, in my closet !
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