John S. Bis

We’ve moved. After 31 years we left Buffalo and bought another house 35 miles to the north. Do you know how much stuff you collect in 31 years? Anyone who has lived in the same house for a number of years knows the answer to that. It is a bunch of stuff. And, if you decide to move, you wonder what possessed you to save it. Hey, anyone want many, many years worth of Scientific American or Smithsonian? How about Corvette News? Got about 10 years of those mags.

Although our new house is only 5 years old it does not have a dishwasher. Why it doesn’t is another story for another time. Anyway, not having a dishwasher almost scotched the deal. But, having handy man skills, I decided I could pull out a 30-inch cabinet, install the 24-inch dishwasher, and fit in a new 6-inch cabinet matching section. I didn’t realize the cabinet section had to be fabricated. So, now that the cutting, fitting and clamping is completed, I’m waiting for the glue to dry.

When you are waiting for glue to dry you have time to think. You begin to think about changes in life style the move will bring. It will be a change from an urbanized city to a small village that is, in essence, a tourist spot 4 months of the year. It will be a change from hearing fire, ambulance or police sirens several times a day to what now will be a noticeable event. It will be a change from a driveway so narrow that the car mirrors often acquire the color of the bordering houses. You also begin to think about the neighbors you are leaving behind and new ones you have yet to meet.

And you begin to think again about those others you have left behind. Those others of yourself that you discarded with each sheet of paper thrown into the recycle box. You see those images of yourself from many years ago. You see images of long forgotten army mates. You see a glimpse of your high school self in a grade book you found. Where did that come from you ask yourself? Must have been in the stuff we found when we cleaned out Mom’s apartment. It must have. I wouldn’t have saved that grade book! Or would I?

A lot of saved stuff, books, copies of papers and articles written. And, all sorts of bits and pieces of things long gone. You know, things like chargers for phones and calculators you no longer have. A collection of coffee mugs, jars and bins of nuts and bolts. Left over stuff from long completed home repair projects. Books for classes taken years ago. Books on academic subjects long put to rest. And class notes, from classes taken and for classes taught.

Sorting through this stuff, deciding to discard, to donate, or to keep, was and continues to be time consuming, and time ending. Much of it feels as if you are watching your self image die. Each bundle of stuff discarded is another of your own time periods permanently ended. But some stuff, probably too much, can’t be let go. Some stuff is too important for keeping who you were alive. And it’s really not for anyone else to remember. No one else really cares but you.

So, while I wait for the glue to dry, I think again about saving stuff. Am I still saving too much?

You know the answer to that!