I mean I did laundry, tidied up the house, canned two full canners of cranberry juice and even spent time learning how to use the sublimation printer and create things. I was feeling in control by noon when I decided to tackle the Christmas boxes. I knew the whole storage area needed addressed, but I didn't exactly plan to do it. I thought maybe I would get to it later this year or... well... you know never?!
That isn't how it went. I pulled out all the Christmas stuff, the piles and piles of wrapping paper, bags, bows and such that had been stuffed in there year after year as the holidays ended and exhaustion took it's toll. When Hubs and I would promise one another that we'd address it in the summer or over a staycation. Yup, I think I mentioned yesterday, those days seriously never happen.
As you can imagine...one thing led to another.
Hubs had been wondering what had happened to his photo albums from Vietnam, and I decided to peek into boxes and see if I couldn't find them. I was not only stunned but very dismayed to see the chaotic way we had packed when we moved from Illinois. The move was rushed, awkward and based on what I saw yesterday, completely chaotic. In all fairness, we were both working around 50+ hours a week, I was still recovering from whooping cough and we didn't know it at the time but Hubs' hip was literally disintegrating at a rapid rate and it would be the start of probably the hardest year we've ever experienced together.
At any rate, I started pulling out boxes, cleaning out cabinets and hauling up trash, I somehow managed to walk 4.62 miles without ever leaving my house. Most of it in my basement. I'm not even half-way finished, so Christmas is still up and beautiful at my home. Although I think I will take down the small amount I put up outside, before heading down today.
I found treasures in the midst of the chaos. Little things that made me smile and laugh, my kiddo's first baby blankets, my first baby blankets, little tokens of life that had been packed away, saved to look back on at some point in life. I rediscovered my letter jacket, doesn't look too bad for 40 years old. My graduation tassel and even a beautiful embroidery that was made when I was born. My Korean doll my dad sent me when I was born (he was there for the first 18 months of my life) and the one he bought my daughter when he returned to visit during her first year of life.
Those treasures made me laugh and smile. Those are the kinds of memories that I cherish. I did find two of Hub's missing photo albums so far. And he found the complete set of newspapers from the 1940's and on, that carried his Dad's writings, articles and photos. I learned a lot about his passion for horses and the impact he'd made on that community in this area throughout his life. We uncovered the final article written about his Dad a little over a year after his passing, it was powerful and heart wrenching to listen to Hubs read it aloud.
We found a small envelope that we hadn't known existed, in my world it was the most priceless of all, it contained photos that we thought didn't exist any longer. There were pictures of Hubs throughout his childhood, including a few when he was probably six months or so old. He had assumed those were all long gone, yet there they were preserved as if they were taken yesterday.
We aren't sure where in the old house these precious memories had been stashed away. A lot of his family memories had been destroyed when the basement of the house in Fairview had flooded, finding those photos of him were a blessing beyond words. There is even one of him at his first communion while he was at St. Johns. He shared how wonderful of a man the father was, and how wicked the nun standing behind him was.
We found stacks of outdated, unusable computer disks, cables and lord knows what else, video cassettes from our kids' childhood, CD's and DVD's that we had long since forgotten about. It's incredible the stuff that you put aside to deal with later while you are in the midst of working more than a full time job and managing life the best you can. It might take me all week to tackle that room and one other, but the feeling of joy that comes from eliminating a HUGE stressor, is indescribable.
The sheer number of old record albums we discovered has led me to believe we either need to find a serious collector or two, or simply buy a record player and start listening to them. I think there are 5 or 6 boxes full. He comes from a long line of music lovers.
I have an old metal cabinet that has always held stacks of blankets, comforters, etc. I can't remember who it belonged to although Hubs had told me a few hundred times, his mom or Gramma. I opened it, filled with great trepidation yesterday, I knew it was crammed full of old blankets that we no longer needed, but hadn't dealt with. Probably 90% was put into either the trash or donate piles, and the small pile of true treasures was moved on to a safer location.
That metal cabinet, fully organized now, has gone from a sad nightmare to my shining glory of success from yesterday. It now contains that huge unruly pile of empty boxes and chaos of wrapping paper, ribbons, bows etc.
It feels cleansing, energizing. I was raised military, we cleaned everything out each move, it was part of the cycle, the journey so to speak. I don't think I ever realized how powerful and healing it is to go through this process on a regular basis. It's been too long.
Well, I need to get with. I have to be at my daughters in a short bit, then home to work continue to work on the basement. Onward! Oh yeah, the stuff on my to do list, definitely need more time than I originally planned...
love, prayers and blessings...
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