House purging

[Adams Brokenhearted Mama]

We are in contract to see our home up North and moving full time to our "snowbird" residence. I am busy every day cleaning out every nook & cranny, sorting out who wants what, donation boxes, garage sales boxes, what we are taking and stuff for our garage sale.
I came across a carton dedicated to Adam and as I went through it the grief hurt like a dagger to the gut and heart. I threw away a lot of stuff that I no longer have the need to hold onto. Things like the funeral home guest book, things that I clung to in the beginning. I was rocked so hard by the grief that I had to stop and I went into Craig's arms and wept. I will go through that carton again and keep only the most near and dear to my heart items. Over these past 9 3/4 years I have occasionally done this, donating his clothes and other items. Each time I know I am setting myself freer of the need to hold onto material possessions of Adam's because he and my love for him will always be embedded in my heart.

[Terry]

I came across a carton dedicated to Adam and as I went through it the grief hurt like a dagger to the gut and heart. I threw away a lot of stuff that I no longer have the need to hold onto. Things like the funeral home guest book, things that I clung to in the beginning. I was rocked so hard by the grief that I had to stop and I went into Craig's arms and wept. I will go through that carton again and keep only the most near and dear to my heart items.

I know what you're going through and it's so, so difficult. As you know I came close to moving twice. I came up with a lot of excuses why I didn't move and although they were all good excuses and even valid reasons to stay put, I must confess that the main reason for not moving was that *I fell apart going through all of those boxes.*
I'm moving, too. Really I am. But once again I couldn't go through the boxes of memories - it was all too painful. So what I have done is box up all of my baby's memories and marked them PRECIOUS. Of course I kept out all of their letters, cards, favorite pictures, etc. and many other gifts as they are so close to my heart but there are still boxes, after all of these years that when I open, I fall down a very deep and dark hole. The boxes marked PRECIOUS will be opened by someone else when I leave this earth. That's just the way it is and I've accepted that.

You and Craig must be getting a little excited as a change is always nice. Thanks for sharing your moving/boxes story as it also gave me a chance to make my confession...late as it is.

I'm doing the garage/estate sale, too. It helps to get rid of the clutter that's built up over the years.

Hugs & Love