Post #6: 7/31/25

Cup Status: Emptying One Drop at a Time

Today, I am still thinking about stuff. Belongings. Things. Items. The trappings of life. The reason this has been on my mind so much lately is because I have been helping my mother in law clean out her parents’ house. They built this house in the 1950’s with their own hands. Her father saw a picture of the front of the house with a floor plan in a magazine and he used that to help him build the house. They lived in the house for 70 years. Raised 2 children in the house. Had a wedding the house. Celebrated many holidays in the house. Made countless meals in the house. Lived life in the house. Now, all these years later, we are sifting through the evidence of those years.

They both lived through the great depression and lean times when they didn’t have much. As a result of this, they saved anything and everything that could be useful or that might be needed again one day. They saved anything and everything that was ever given to them. Because of this, my mother in law and I have been sorting through boxes and boxes of greeting cards sent with love and piles of used gift bags and tissue paper that could be used again and bags of pens gathered from various banks and conventions and hotels across the years. We have found receipts for the purchase of building materials back in 1961 and the first payment coupons for the mortgage back in the 1950’s. We have found four generations of baby shoes. 100’s of bobby pins and dozens of hair nets. We have found mementos of work achievements. 25 years with the company and then 30 years and then retirement. We have found outfits through the decades and have had a good chuckle at the fashion choices. Did Papa really have a tie with mushrooms on it? Did Grandma ever wear all of those sweater vests that we found? We don’t remember seeing her wear those. We have found tons of tiny Ziploc bags with buttons in them in case the original falls off of the garment they came with. We have found so many glass jars from spaghetti sauce and salsa and jelly. You never know when you might need a good jar. We have found 12 pairs of nail clippers, so far. We have found so, so many things. But, we have also found love letters written when their relationship was new when they called each other their “Dearest Darling.” We have found decades of pictures showing the expansion of family and the growth of love. Sifting through the evidence of lives well-lived and people who are dearly loved and missed has been both difficult and so, so beautiful. It makes me think about the items that are important and the items that will one day end up in a trash bag. What is worth cherishing and preserving now for later? What has true value and what is just stuff? That is the lesson that I have been learning lately.