Wednesday, September 27, 2023

Ribbons and things

 


What does everyone do with all the extra stuff in your life? I’ve read Marie Kondo and many articles about organizing. I read my Real Simple magazines. I still have lots of extra stuff that I want but in my creaky old house I don’t have walk in closets or basements with rows of shelving. 

I do have lots of amazing treasures though. Tonight I spent time emptying out a drawer (yes, just one drawer) of a three drawer antique dresser that lived in my grandmother’s home. The top drawer is where I’ve stuck ribbons, small jewelry boxes just waiting to be reused, and miniature photo albums filled with my children’s faces at varying stages. This year at Christmas I’m going to bring these little books out and everyone can have fun looking at how cute they were way back when. 

The ribbons from the box I twirled, organized, and wrapped up ready to be used again and again. They’re so shiny and pretty, reminding me of ballet shoes and extravagant gift boxes. Many of them gifted me a memory as I softly wrapped them around my fingers, like Verda’s cream cotton wrap that held together my last Christmas gift. Many were worth saving although I discarded a few ribbons that didn’t bring me joy anymore.  I’m capable of recycling and throwing away. After my mother died we sent many boxes to Goodwill. 

In the drawer I also found two letters from my dad that I will relocate to my “dad” box and this is how we make sense of it all. What stays and what goes. I spent the night sifting through memories, organizing a piece of my life. I’ll use the ribbons when I want something to be festive and I’ve made space as I cleaned out the clutter. Bit by bit I’ll get my life in order even without a walk-in closet. What do you save and what do you lose?

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