Jerry and I have spent the last week packing up our kitchen and dining room as part of a kitchen remodel. This is something we have wanted to do for some time, but at the same time dreading. It has been a big job, but we are finally ready for the painter who hopefully will show up today. It was our plan to pare down and get rid of the things we no longer need or use. Oh man! Do we ever have a lot of stuff!
This is not our first pass at this trimming down our things. We moved into this house 23 years ago, and got rid of a lot of things then. It’s strange, but I still think of this as our new house. But over the last 23 years we (okay, I) have managed to fill it up again.
Deciding what to keep and what to donate has been a challenging task. How did I end up with so many loaf pans?
Me: I wonder how many loaf pans to keep?
Jerry: When is the last time you cooked a loaf of anything?
Me: Well, I might make a meatloaf.
Jerry: We buy those at Costco now.
Oh yes. He is right. Costco makes a mean meatloaf. I am thinking I might keep one loaf pan. Just because.
I had a moment when I was deciding what to do with Aunt Fannie Belle’s parfait glasses. The layer of dust on them proved that I never use them, but getting rid of them seems so disloyal to her. My Aunt Fannie Belle was my grandmother’s sister, and together they were the twin pillars of a chaotic childhood. My safe people. Aunt Fannie Belle lived in Houston, and my sister and I spent many summers with her. Like her name suggests, she was a southern belle, and knew how to entertain. I can remember those parfait glasses filled with wonderful concoctions when she hosted her bridge club or her circle group from church.
My sister and I exchanged a few texts discussing the parfait glasses. “Keep the memories, but let go of the parfait glasses,” she suggested. Perfect! I think about Aunt Fannie Belle almost daily, and obviously I don’t need the glasses to remind me of her. Hence, the dust. The memories are what we keep. And there are so many!
The older I get, the closer I am getting to Heaven, where wonderful reunions await. I have a recurrent dream of taking a road trip with my sister, grandmother and Aunt Fannie Belle. In the dream we are laughing and having the best time! I can’t imagine road trips in Heaven, but who knows? To paraphrase Carrie Underwood, maybe Jesus will take the wheel.
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