Write Photo – Antiques or Rubbish?

Antique – Image by KL Caley who is our host for #writephoto.

For visually challenged writers, the image shows a collection of tables, chairs, lamps, baskets, teddies and other objects in quite a busy space.

Oy vey. I promised myself the last time, would be the last time. For reasons unknown to me, whenever a family member passes away I am given all their worldly goods. Some relatives ask me to look for anything valuable for them. Some ask me to keep important items to hand down to the next generation. Some tell me to just trash everything.

In the beginning, when it was my great grandparents belongings from the old country, I was happy to oblige. And then when some passed away suddenly, I wanted to help ease the burden. But now, it is getting out of hand. I’ve rented a showroom just to store all the larger items. My basement is cluttered wall to wall with G-d knows what. 

My system is to first go through the personal things to shred what should not be seen by the public. Then I search for small items like jewelry that might be meaningful to the family. Next, I try to trash old, dirty, or broken items.  Larger items that are worth rehoming or selling are the most difficult to store. It’s really getting out of hand.   

I told my second cousin, when her parent’s both passed away recently, that I would not do this again. I swore, my personal time had to be spent in a better way. All these memories are dragging me down. The family is shrinking far to fast. I never get to sit with my sadness. I am too busy dealing with the junk my family members collected over their lifetimes.   

Yet, here I am again. I’m looking for some space to store more objects. When do I put a stop to this madness? When do I get to live my life in the present? When do I start to take care of me? 

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