A morbid, but honest thought
I dunno what runs through my squash or why. I can tell you I have absolutely no idea where today's post came from, so I'll just explain where I'm going with this.
I was looking for some old photos I used to have of the basement and the house from when we bought it in 2004. They were in my desk at the Guard base forever, but you think I can find them around here? No, not so much. I found all kinds of things, but not them.
I have photos from my Guard days. I have a plastic tub full of orders, travel vouchers, paystubs, and the like; all things I was told by the old guys never to throw away. That was good advice. I have paper money. No, not dollars, but paper coins that AAFES printed up for use in the overseas theatre of operations. They're like pogs. I thought they were cool and they were given to my by someone who deployed to the region. I have a bunch of baseball cards that aren't worth squat. I don't know why I have them. I also have cancelled passports from my trips to Russia and to Cyprus.
As I put the shoebox full of treasures away, I wondered what my kids would think about all the stuff they'd have to go through if I didn't make it past today. I mean that...
Aside from the stuff, I wonder what my closet would say. I have a lot of worn out clothes; tee shirts with threadbare collars, I have a few pairs of boxers that need to go and probably a couple of socks, too. I have pants with holes in the knees and the rear pockets. They'd be fine to wear to work if they were mended but of the pink things I can do, past a button, sewing isn't one of them.
I have two pairs of black shoes. One pair the tongue of one shoe was chewed on by Bucket. And said shoe is missing a shoelace.
If they looked at the slacks I own, they could tell the three pair I wear. One is missing a button. All three are frayed at the back of the cuffs.
They would find a two big screen televisions in my home; neither one works. There are two broken microwave ovens that need to go, too. I'm sure their question would be "why did dad keep all this junk?"
I can't answer that question. The clothes thing I can... the nice ones they'd find are gifts. The ones that are worn out, well, I never got around to mending. As for the shirts, they're all I have. They're still wearable. Sometimes, you make do with what you have.
My kids would find a few surprises, too, I think. I still have drawings they did when they were little. A search through my Christmas ornaments would reveal I kept the decorations they made that I was given. My kids would find photos of them throughout the house.
The garage is another matter and I think they could quickly tell what stuff is and isn't mine. They'd find a good selection of tools in the garage, along with this and that.
I think though it may be time to step back and look around at the stuff in this house with that perspective in mind. No, I'm not worried about my own mortality, nor am I looking at checking out soon, but maybe it's time to walk around the joint and look at what's broken and worn out and maybe, just maybe, start getting rid of some of the stuff that really would just be thrown away if I weren't here anymore.
As for now, though.... I gotta go to work.
I was looking for some old photos I used to have of the basement and the house from when we bought it in 2004. They were in my desk at the Guard base forever, but you think I can find them around here? No, not so much. I found all kinds of things, but not them.
I have photos from my Guard days. I have a plastic tub full of orders, travel vouchers, paystubs, and the like; all things I was told by the old guys never to throw away. That was good advice. I have paper money. No, not dollars, but paper coins that AAFES printed up for use in the overseas theatre of operations. They're like pogs. I thought they were cool and they were given to my by someone who deployed to the region. I have a bunch of baseball cards that aren't worth squat. I don't know why I have them. I also have cancelled passports from my trips to Russia and to Cyprus.
As I put the shoebox full of treasures away, I wondered what my kids would think about all the stuff they'd have to go through if I didn't make it past today. I mean that...
Aside from the stuff, I wonder what my closet would say. I have a lot of worn out clothes; tee shirts with threadbare collars, I have a few pairs of boxers that need to go and probably a couple of socks, too. I have pants with holes in the knees and the rear pockets. They'd be fine to wear to work if they were mended but of the pink things I can do, past a button, sewing isn't one of them.
I have two pairs of black shoes. One pair the tongue of one shoe was chewed on by Bucket. And said shoe is missing a shoelace.
If they looked at the slacks I own, they could tell the three pair I wear. One is missing a button. All three are frayed at the back of the cuffs.
They would find a two big screen televisions in my home; neither one works. There are two broken microwave ovens that need to go, too. I'm sure their question would be "why did dad keep all this junk?"
I can't answer that question. The clothes thing I can... the nice ones they'd find are gifts. The ones that are worn out, well, I never got around to mending. As for the shirts, they're all I have. They're still wearable. Sometimes, you make do with what you have.
My kids would find a few surprises, too, I think. I still have drawings they did when they were little. A search through my Christmas ornaments would reveal I kept the decorations they made that I was given. My kids would find photos of them throughout the house.
The garage is another matter and I think they could quickly tell what stuff is and isn't mine. They'd find a good selection of tools in the garage, along with this and that.
I think though it may be time to step back and look around at the stuff in this house with that perspective in mind. No, I'm not worried about my own mortality, nor am I looking at checking out soon, but maybe it's time to walk around the joint and look at what's broken and worn out and maybe, just maybe, start getting rid of some of the stuff that really would just be thrown away if I weren't here anymore.
As for now, though.... I gotta go to work.
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