pack rat
Suzanne's decluttering purge reminded me of the pack rat queen, my late mother-in-law Grace.
Grace and Emil bought their Long Island home in 1960. over the next 30 years they raised 2kids, as well as numerous dogs, cats, etc. they sold the house in 1990 and moved to southwest Florida.
they actually started looking at Florida properties in 1986, and started sorting through their stuff and packing for the move in 1987. seriously. for 3 years there were packing boxes all along one wall of the living room. in 30 years Grace never threw ANYTHING away.
they decided to buy all new furniture, since their existing furniture was old and worn out.
you'd think they'd have a garage sale or something to get rid of a lot of their stuff. you'd be WRONG!
they took EVERYTHING with them. every pot and pan. every dish and cup. old mops and brooms. every plastic souvenir from every vacation they ever took. brand new clothes, price tags still attached, from stores that went out of business in the 1970's. a wheelchair used by Grace's mother, who died in the late 1960's.
it cost thousands of dollars to ship it all.
Grace died in 1994 and Emil moved to an assisted living facility last summer. and my ex, Drew, is trying to get the house in order so that it can be sold.
and guess what he found in the garage?
all those boxes, packed 20 years ago, and never opened.
Grace and Emil bought their Long Island home in 1960. over the next 30 years they raised 2kids, as well as numerous dogs, cats, etc. they sold the house in 1990 and moved to southwest Florida.
they actually started looking at Florida properties in 1986, and started sorting through their stuff and packing for the move in 1987. seriously. for 3 years there were packing boxes all along one wall of the living room. in 30 years Grace never threw ANYTHING away.
they decided to buy all new furniture, since their existing furniture was old and worn out.
you'd think they'd have a garage sale or something to get rid of a lot of their stuff. you'd be WRONG!
they took EVERYTHING with them. every pot and pan. every dish and cup. old mops and brooms. every plastic souvenir from every vacation they ever took. brand new clothes, price tags still attached, from stores that went out of business in the 1970's. a wheelchair used by Grace's mother, who died in the late 1960's.
it cost thousands of dollars to ship it all.
Grace died in 1994 and Emil moved to an assisted living facility last summer. and my ex, Drew, is trying to get the house in order so that it can be sold.
and guess what he found in the garage?
all those boxes, packed 20 years ago, and never opened.
Yikes! I at least throw stuff out, lol!
ReplyDelete(I found matches in one of the boxes. From Borelli's. So I lit some candles. HA!)
OMG, suzanne...please tell me the matches were from when you came back to visit...you havne't had those matches since you lived here, have you? that would be as bad as Grace's clothes from S. Klein and Korvettes.
ReplyDeleteWe don't smoke, we only have matches to light candles!
ReplyDeleteSeriously, clothes from Kleins and Korvettes? When did Klein's close? 1972?
Klein's closed in the mid 70's and Korvettes in 1980. the Klein's store on Commack Road became a Korvette's, then a Stern's, and switched to Macy's when Federated bought Stern's.
ReplyDeleteBorrelli's is still going strong, though. they get a good crowd whenever there's an event at tghe Coliseum.