The Purge

Inspired by our recent visits to my mom's to help her move, Ron and I decided that we MUST get rid of some of our own stuff. This was accomplished in three ways: a garage sale, a major trip to the landfill, and a donation of items to charity. We have done these purges from time to time in the past, and once the trauma of selecting items to dispose of is over, it is so liberating. However, this is the biggest clearing away of stuff I think we've ever done.There was even stuff from the marriage before me, such as the delightful camper toilet from the attic. (I'm kind of a hotel- dwelling princess.) The garage sale was last Sunday, and even though I didn't make much money, I had a delightful assortment of characters come by.They bought some bulky items like blankets and comforters, so that was good. The landfill trip was this morning. We took the seats out of a huge van, the kind of van churches use for youth group trips. We loaded it from floor to ceiling with stuff, some which we had taken apart or broken up to make it fit. Finally, we took a lot of other stuff to a charity store.
This is always a somewhat emotional thing for me, but it was especially so this last time. The blankets and comforters were Ninja Turtle and Jurassic Park themed items that my son used when he was a little boy. We also got rid of the crib that he and two of my step-grandchildren had used, and I sold some of his old toys. There are still plenty left that I will try to sell in a spring garage sale, but I'm still having trouble dealing with the idea of selling the tin bucket full of Transformers. My son told me I could go ahead and try to sell them, although pieces might be missing from some of them. He loved those so much when he was little, though. To paraphrase Charlton Heston, someone will probably have to pry that bucket of Transformers out of my cold, dead hands.