What do you do with a lifetime of memories?

My husband and I are moving…again. I think this is our 18th move together. In the past we have made sure that our new house would have ample storage space for ‘all the things’. 

You know…Christmas decorations, books, memorabilia. All the things that we have collected throughout the years that mean so much to us and we want to keep forever.

But this move is different. We are downsizing. And where we would like to move does not have basements or even attic storage. We are hoping that we can carve out space in the garage for shelves and boxes…maybe.

So here we are with a lifetime of memories sitting on the shelves in my husband’s study. The little tooth fairy box that my son (who is 32) had when he was a kid. Or the needlepoint that my daughter made when she was 8 (she is now 49).

Plus all of my memories…the scrapbooks that I made when my kids  were in elementary school showcasing their wonderful handiwork. 

Not counting all of the boxes and bags and tins that I have saved for 20 years…just in case.

As a result, we are faced with a big dilemma…what do we do with all of our stuff? How do we purge? Does anyone even want it…any of it? 

How can we just throw away all of those memories? Once we are dead and gone…who will know what happened?

And to top it all off…we have no idea how much space our new house will have (or not have) because we can’t find a single house to buy in our area. So, we aren’t sure what to keep or not keep. But we know we need to purge. BIG time!

So, where do we even begin with this lifetime of memories?

What do we keep? Do we give stuff to the kids? Throw it away? Sell it? Donate it? 

Sheesh! Way too much.

This is what we did.

We started with, what I call, Phase 1 Purge.

This 1st step was getting the house ready for sale. Staging all of the areas. Removing those memories that only mean something to us. Decluttering the shelves. Cleaning the drawers and closets. Making everything neat and organized.

We put everything that should not be part of the selling process in boxes and moved those boxes to the attic and garage.

Once Phase 1 was complete we moved to Phase 2 Purge.

This Phase 2 was harder. This involved purging everything that we did not want to unpack on the other end of the move

We started in the garage and attic. Anything that we did not want got moved to the center bay in our garage. Huge piles of things.

We FaceTimed our kids and asked them what they wanted…pretty much nothing. We took the trash to the dump and gave the rest away. I would rather give things away than sell them.

We have been storing boxes and boxes of things for our kids. We were waiting until they had houses and could store their own things. And since they now are homeowners, they came in and moved all of their boxes to the garage and then went through them to see what they wanted to keep. Which was hardly anything. I told them to take it or it was gone. Mom and Dad needed to get on with their ‘stuff free’ lives.

So far, at the time I am typing this, we have filled our pick-up truck 6 times and taken it all to the dump. My cleaning lady has filled her car and husband's trailer 3 times. I have given SO much of my crafting things to friends who will use it all with joy in their hearts.

And now we need to go through those boxes that we packed up during our Phase 1 Purge. What do we really need to keep? What do we really want to keep?

Our hearts want to keep the lifetime of memories.

Our hearts want to show those memories to our kids and explain why they are so important to us. Our hearts want to, somehow, keep the memories alive.

Only those are our memories and no one else’s. Our families have their own memories that they hang onto. They don’t need ours as well.

As you are purging your memories, and if you find it hard and really sad that no one wants what you love, try and remember one thing…

The reason it is sad is because it was so good.

All of those dust collectors sitting on your shelves represent the highlights in your life that meant so much to you at the time. It is now time to make new memories and live a simpler life.

And if you need help with your packing…check out this blog post. It will really help you out.

What is Joyful Living all about?

Joyful Living is ALL about not letting let the circumstances of YOUR life determine who you really are. You learn to choose YOU instead! Not sure how to do that? Let me help! 

To begin, go ahead and read:

• What is Joyful Living?
• 5 Simple Steps to Choosing Joy
• Finding Joy in All Things
• What Does God Say About Joy?
• Difference Between Happiness and Joy