Stuck in a Pattern (Our Life Story)

[MakersDozn]

Thanks for writing back, orek. Writing and telling our story was very cathartic. We also posted it on our blog and on another site for multiples. No, wait, two other sites.

One of the things that's happened as a result of our father's passing (and us having to help clean out his house) is that we're realizing how important it is to get rid of some of the stuff we've accumulated in our own home. Our parents' house has nine rooms and 54 years of stuff, including the 14 years since our mother died.

Our apartment is only 425 square feet, but the principle is the same. Our mother was a hoarder, and we swore that we wouldn't end up like her. Granted, we only have about a fourth of the space that she had, and our tendency to save is nowhere near as extreme. But we still need to change our ways in order to move forward in our healing.

Earlier during this week's staycation we took three piles of magazines and newspapers out to the nearest recycling igloo. At various railroad stations in our township, there are these big, white receptacles that literally look like igloos--minus the entranceway. They're meant for commuters to toss away the day's newspapers, but we've been known to dump large quantities of paper into them.

But despite our trip to the igloo earlier this week, we still had several more piles to throw out. We had two piles of new-agey magzines that some of us had bought at least 15 years ago, promising to read them "someday." Well, not only has "someday" never come, but we've accumulated other "someday" stuff as well--dozens of astrology annuals that all say pretty much the same thing. If we really want to look up that kind of information, we can do it online for free. Reclaiming our living space and our peace of mind is more important.

So today we went back to the igloo with the rest of the magazines and annuals. We had about seven reusable shopping bags filled with them. It was hard for some of us to let go, but we know that we're better off in the long run.

MDs (Laura, mostly)