Clearing Out The Clutter

Who would've thought straightening up could be painful?

Over the weekend I was feeling a little ambitious, so decided to straighten up a bit at home. No serious rolling-up-the-rugs stuff, just cleaning out some closet and drawer space.

I'm not as much a "pack rat" as I am a "sentimental sap", as someone used to call me.

While cleaning out my desk drawers, I located a cache of memories. I'll save anything to remind me of a moment, a person, a feeling. be it ticket stubs, receipts, matchbooks, wine corks, or even a leaf. In my mind it's not so much collecting things as it is collecting reflections.

I got rid of a few of those.

I did save a few, the seashell from the beach where Jean and I were married, the shard of glass from my first date with ChaCha, the key from the truck where I got in my life-changing accident.

Both Jean and ChaCha have their own box, brimming with random miscellany. Those boxes aren't as full as they were, but that makes all that is left more poignant. It was both freeing and painful sorting through the items. Some things made me smile, even laugh out loud on a couple. A few tears were shed.

But now there is room in MY box for tons of new memories.