I considered taking before and after pictures for the blog, but decided it wasn't worth the humiliation that would inevitably go along with showing the before pictures. Yes, I'm proud of the after, but I'm content to just let you imagine rather than showing you the reality of the before.
As we were cleaning out cupboards, I happened upon this:
My mom made each of us one of these plates in Relief Society back a million years ago when I was just a little girl. I've had mine ever since and loved it. In fact, I think my sisters each have theirs, too ... I'll have to ask them. I'm curious now. But as I pulled mine from the cupboard, I noticed that the back of the plate had been marred and stained, and bubbles were starting to form in the Melmac on the front. It's not really safe to eat off it anymore - you wouldn't want to get a piece of plastic on your fork and then ingest it.
I decided to retire this piece of history, and to take a picture to treasure instead.
I do this a lot when I need to discard something - I'll take its picture so I'll remember it, and then I don't have guilt for throwing it away. I can remember the fond thoughts that go along with it, but I don't have an attic full of boxes of things I can't bear to part with. There are certain things I'll always keep, like my stuffed pink dog, but other things, I can afford to throw away.
Goodbye, rabbit plate. I'll miss you. But thank you for being mine for as long as you were.
5 comments:
I wouldn't call myself a pack rat, but I am a pile clutterer. I used to have a hard time getting rid of stuff (still do sometimes). But I think I had a sort of discovery about myself.
It's not that I WANT to keep the old falling apart, not useful stuff (like your plate). But a lot of things have that attachment of who we were. I loved my life growing up and that stuff reminds me of who I was.
But then after a while, it just clutters up our space. It's not who we are anymore (because we are always changing). We hold on to it to hold on to our past life. But that really just keeps us from growing and moving forward.
I love the take a picture approach. I have some art I drew that I was pretty dang proud of. Kept it behind a dresser forever. I didn't want to throw it away, but it wasn't anything I would want to hang. So I finally took a picture and threw the art away. Same with a ceramic cat that I would not want to display, but reminded me of my Grandmother who was such a crafter. Take a picture and send to the DI. Let someone else that would want to display it have it.
put the plate in a shadowbox and hang it on the wall?
You're cleaning must have been inspired by my dirty house.
That's a great idea, taking a picture. Maybe I'll have my hubby try that, because he's the biggest junk collector you've ever seen! :)
(Sorry your rabbit plate had to go, but it's nice that you have the fond memories.)
It's hard to say goodbye. We recently moved to a different state and a smaller house and had to get rid of a lot of things. LOVE the taking pictures approach--I did that with a lot of the kids' stuff to make giving it up easier.
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