I knew the day would come. But it conveniently was so easy to put off. Yet, these days of pandemic boredom and too much time on my hands brought the inevitable forward. I've got a job to do. A very sensitive job, but one that very few care about. Still, it's time.
I have a very small family. I could probably fit everyone in my living room. Just one cousin on my mother's side, a sister, and nobody on my father's side. Most are gone, and within 20-25 years half of those left will be too.
Yet their lives in photographs, ephemera, a few personal items, and miscellaneous objects remain. To this, I can add my personal collection of journals, watercolor paintings, books, poems, photographs, memorabilia, and 30 years of classroom odds and ends from my teaching career.
What to do with this stuff? That is the question. It wouldn't be such a big deal if only there were a few more relatives or my own children to pass it all on to. Not so. I have no qualms about getting rid of the stuff, it's just how? That's what bothers me the most.
I've researched this conundrum. People prefer fire. There is something clean about burning things you want to leave no trace. If some of these items are completely reduced to ashes then there is no chance of them falling into the wrong hands. We owe that much respect to our ancestors. We can protect some of our innermost thoughts from becoming public knowledge that way too.
There is another side of the coin to this too. Very talented artists sometimes like to make collages or displays of all sorts with these old photos and objects of decades past. Some I have could actually go to museums because my folks were young and productive in the 1930s and 40s and I have a few items that came in handy for a history teacher discussing the Great Depression with kids who were often entranced with everything from kitchen items, ration books, and clothing from the 1940s. Since they owned and operated a small-town general store, complete with a soda fountain for a while, I also have a few Coca-Cola artifacts like an ice pick and one of those coveted Coke trays.
I will move some items on by way of a garage sale or online marketplace. Some will make someone happy and receive new life. Others demand some sort of ceremony. That I'm still figuring out. Any ideas?
Comments