By Shannon Williams
I have been dealing with a lot of stuff lately and I mean STUFF !! Why is it that we keep so much stuff, that may have no use anymore to us or anyone else and why is trying to get rid of it such an emotional process?? So when you have to evacuate for the first time, stuff becomes an issue. I remember when I first moved down to the peninsula, I kept a storage space in Houston with all of my “special stuff” (Christmas and art supplies) to keep it safe and at that time we had no room for it all. I rested easy, knowing that if something happened down here, I would not lose my stuff, but the time came to move it to our new home. I tried my best to downsize and only brought about half of it, but still it was way too much.

As I was faced with what to take and what to leave, I knew I just could not take it all or even a small portion of it, so I walked out with just my car full and only several treasures. I know it is just stuff and does not define who we are, but it does in so many ways, it tells the story of my life and those who have been in it.

As we close out my mother in law life here on earth, dealing with her stuff is a big task. She was in assisted living, so a great deal of her belongs where already gone, but there still was so much with so much meaning. We found the birth announcement her parents sent out announcing her birth in 1923! Reports cards for my husband and his brother (both who needed work in the area of conduct !!! so things never change LOL). Pictures from every area of her life and those in it, reminds us of those times or those who are no longer with us, but how many pictures can you keep or put up.

My husband hung 15 new pictures in the guest bedroom yesterday. I have always used the guest bedroom to display family pictures and have them all the way back to the early 1900’s. These days, I make sure that who it was, when it was taken and what they were to me is written on the back and am grateful for those who did it before me.

As we have been preparing to move my mother into assisted living, I have made several trips to help deal with her stuff. My mother had to move her mother out of the family ranch home in the late 80’s and she promised us she would never make us do that, as it was a huge task. So mom has been working towards downsizing for many years and has passed many treasures on.

When I was a young girl, my father flew for the USAF Strategic Air Command, so he would be gone often without notice and not knowing where he was. Upon his return from one of these trips, he arrived with several crates and convinced my mother that it was Irish whiskey. I do not know if it was the sheer number of crates or what she thought was in them, but she was not happy. BUT, inside those crates was a full set of Wedgwood china! It was a part of every holiday and family celebration for years, but now it sits unused for years.

I have worked hard to repurpose many keepsakes, such as spoon rings from silver patterns, tooth fairy pillows from old linen napkins, crosses made from broken pieces of china, trying to keep them part of our life. So as I am still so grateful that none of my stuff was destroyed in a storm, the battle of the stuff continues and I work to tame it all and try not just to send it all to my son.

So, I will continue to try and keep my stuff under control, but fear it will always be a big part of my life. Let us not forgot those to the East of us, who lost their treasures to the Gulf.

[September-7-2020]