My Siblings and I Moved our Parents...

My siblings and I moved our parents for the third time in ten years last weekend. In order for the process to be done in a weekend, we have to make pretty quick decisions about what to keep and what to throw or give away. When we moved them off the farm about ten years ago, we all took boxes home and our homes were filled. In addition, we have all of the stuff we've accumulate in our 50-60 years of life. In some cases we are also housing boxes of stuff from our kids who may not be settled yet!! UFFDA!! I am determined to at least make some sense of all the stuff and to organize it or to scrapbook it. We hope that we are building a new house in this next year and it's not going to be huge so I really want to keep only the best and most important stuff. I like the "minimalist" look because it is so clean. I love organization because it makes everything so efficient. But on the other hand, I love the memories created by seeing some of the stuff. I have an old chipped bowl that my mother always kept salt in. She would just reach in for a pinch and put it into whatever she was cooking or baking. How can I get rid of the patriotic beanie baby bear that was given to my father in law when he was battling cancer? How about the giant birthday card that Tyler made me from poster paper? So now you see the conflict. As in many things, the key is balance. I don't want to become a hoarder and not able to get rid of anything but I also do not want a sterile and impersonal environment. Kinda reminds me of the following song. Who's Gonna Know? Written by Jon Vesner and performed by Kathy Mattea on "Walking Away A Winner" On the top of my desk mid the clutter and dustsits an old 5x8 black and white It's one of my favorite pictures of us I'll carry with me all my life I must have been a-bout five or six Mom's hair was still brown and Dad's was still thick But to look at it now some-times I get scared To think that some-day they might not be there 'Cause who's gonna know but me Who'll help me recall those small mem-o-ries I'm all that's left of this family of three Who's gonna know but me? Down in the cellar under the steps Sits an old box of junk that I've saved Newspaper clippings, letters and cards Even some code-a-phone tapes Slices of life I can hold in my hand And show to my kids so they might under-stand In those years to come when they ask me some night What Grandma and Grandpa used to be like 'Cause who's gonna know but me Who'll help me recall those small mem-o-ries I'm all that's left of this family of three Who's gonna know but me? If life were a video I could rewind I'd go back and slow down each moment in time Then I'd disconnect the fast forward button So I'd have for-ever to tell 'em I love 'em The older I get, I can't get enough of 'em 'Cause who's gonna know but me Who'll help me recall all those mem-o-ries I'm all that's left of this family of three Who's gonna know but me? Who's gonna know but me?