When our kids go off to college, we cry, we breathe a sigh of relief--and then we realize that 18 years' worth of their accumulated stuff is still in our house. (I know I left my belongings with my parents back in 1977 and never saw my Glen Campbell albums again.)
The "left-as-they-were" bedrooms weren't really a problem for me until we moved from Elk Mound and I had to pack up the lifetime "valuables" of two teenage girls. Sure, some things were obviously junk, but how was I to know which bauble or letter held sentimental value for them? So, I pretty much boxed it all up and hauled it to Rhinelander.
Yesterday I decided to start going through all their belongings that are currently taking up space in the guest bedroom, the walk-in closet that you can't walk into, and the garage. With Katie in Ireland, everything she owns except for a large suitcase-full is here. Erica hasn't lived at home, even during school breaks, for at least four years--and in four months will be getting married. Isn't it time that her sock monkey and the remnants of her "blankie" move in with her?!
I started with her dresser. The top drawer was crammed with 37 pairs of Victoria's Secret undies (a phase she went through in high school) and an equal number of socks with no mates. I also found a piece of lined paper from grade school dated Nov. 30th, 1993 when she was seven. It said "What I did over Thanksgiving vacation. I played with my cousin Molly. I helped bake dinner. I painted and went sleding."
The next drawer held more than a dozen T-shirts in various stages of ragginess, many from Elk Mound sports, homecomings, and music groups she belonged to, along with a copy of Webster's Pocket Medical and First Aid Dictionary. I continued from drawer to drawer, sometimes smiling, sometimes scratching my head, at the things I found. An oboe reed (she played the oboe for one semester, back in 6th grade I think) an asthma inhaler; a pair of heart-shaped sunglasses. The "diaper" --underwear with hip-pads--that she wore when she played volleyball. A door hanger that says "The World's Greatest Kid." More than a dozen unopened bank statements. A notebook from a marriage/family class her senior year in high school with a list of songs among her notes: "Download 'Oh I wish I were an Oscar Mayer weiner.'"
I ended up with a big bag of stuff that I'll be taking along when I see her at my mom's this weekend. She can sort through it, keep what she wants, and get rid of the rest. The boxes in the closet and garage will be next, just to give her fair warning. And who knows--maybe someday an original high school painting from the future Dr. Erica Andrist will be worth something!!
I'll cut Katie a little more slack since she is three years behind Erica and we've been storing her possessions for less time. In the meantime, I'll keep sorting through their stuff--and simultaneously, the memories of their childhoods.
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2 comments:
I just cleaned out two more crates of my 'growing up stuff' from mom and dad's basement at Christmas, and I'm 32! It was the last things from high school and college classes. I know there are 2 or 3 more boxes and some artwork left still. It just takes time to get used to 'home' not housing a part of yourself anymore. Doing it in stages is O-kay, and less traumatic for us kids. : )
WOW!! Moving to China forced Erin to do this herself. I feel so lucky. But why am I humming "I am a lineman for the county?" So many memories in my pile are sprinkled with you - THANKS for being a friend who can write!
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