FORUM

I just read the latest article and got me thinking.

Last year Kate lost Bisous, I lost my dad.
Kate mentioned satisfaction of emptying drawers full of 'may come in usefull items'
What are your 'items'?
My dads appeared to be off the top of my head , numerous boxes of drawing pins, cut off plugs, shoelaces, and in the garden shed and garage were millions of plantpots, bags of sand and gone off coloured paint that I do not ever recall in any of the houses we ever lived in!

Oh and I threw out a real antique, a wooden ironing board that I know was from the late 1950s, still functioning but of no use to me.

from Helen

SOOOOOO many things! Fabrics which I'll make into fashionable clothes one day from a dozen or so ancient patterns, all Taille 38 (ha ha!) ; Ribbons, gold paper, double-sided adhesives (slightly less adhesive by now) to make my own Xmas Cards; beautiful lace bras which I might be able to fit into again one day (dream on) & too pretty to fling into the trash bin; a Playtex all-in-one which I'm damn' well NOT going to fit into one day (but, be careful, you never know...). Recipe books by the score (I always make the same dishes).Books I might want to read again. When I've got Altzeimers I'll read them ALL again (but when I've got the dreaded A, I'll only need one book 'cos I'll have forgotten it as soon as I've read it). A femme fatale black hat with a flocked net veil - never worn - & bought 'cos it was reduced in a sale (typical!) LP's which we can't play any more - that goes for K7s too. A piece of costume jewellery NEVER worn but dripping in sentimental value. Some broken electrical apparatus that Robert will never repair, but which remind me of a fabulous pudding I made with it 10 years ago.
How can one possibly get rid of items which are part of your life and your dreams?

I moved my Dad last month to some 'senior' accomodation. The stuff he has accumulated over the years was amazing but fairly normal after 90 years. What amazed me though was things like 10 big boxes of tin foil and another 10 of cling film, and loads of these mass buys from his Macro card days (a box of 20 torches, a pack of 50 post its.....) - but which he was adamant on taking with him. It took a couple of fights and several G & Ts before we convinced him out of it.

I do undersand Helen though - there is a whole lifetime in our possessions. Reminders of people we have known and places we have been. Difficult to let go...but cling film? That was easy!!

Yeah - we cling to them.....
H

I deffinatly did my bit for charity, I even gave the extra jars of coffee/whitener/sweetener for the staff of one charity shop.

very difficult lo let go of souvenirs, but to select a few made it easier, a set of 6 1950s babycham glasses, a commemoration mug of Elizabeth and George and a special chair that came from my mums own home that a very kind forum member offered to transport for me

from Helen

What are our kids going to do with our treasures once we've gone to the Happy Car Boot in the Sky?
I asked one of our sons what he'll do with my exquisitely beautiful red Murano mocha service (a family heirloom....never used, of course) . He suggested "Emmaüs?"