Today I started going through my stuff to sort the stuff that's making the trip and the stuff that 1-800-Got-JUNK is going to haul away on Tuesday. At first, everything you go through brings on a wave of memories and nostalgia. As the process continues you become a little more mercenary about it. But I'm most of the way through and it's not as bad as I thought it would be. Each piece auditions itself in different ways.
"Hey, I'm a bag of electronics! You like electronics! I know you that you haven't touched me in five years, but maybe tomorrow's the day you'll need 60 feet of ethernet cable! Plus, I'd be hard to sort through!" Grudgingly keep.
"Remember me? Your old papers. You promised to go through me, but you never did. You kept me this long, why change now?" Toss.
And so it goes. Christmas tree, keep. Christmas paper, toss. Christmas lights, keep.
There's a weird algebra to it.
How many copies of the books you wrote do you need? A few.
How many computer books do you need? None.
How many Latin dictionaries do you need? All of them.
What about glassware? Oh god, I don't know, let's just keep it all.
Some stuff you keep for sentimental reasons even though you don't use or need, like the flask my brother gave me.
Other things you have to be honest with yourself about even though you don't want to. I think that that is the fate of Gargoyle Dog. He has been a good companion and seen me through some tough times. I remember long, cold days writing books in Portland with only him for companionship. In those days he wore the Mardi Gras beads, but only begrudgingly. He was a good Gargoyle Dog.
But he has a broken wing and spends most of his time with the cookbooks these days. It's time to say goodbye. If I had been braver, maybe I would have left him in Portland when I moved. But it's time now.
Goodbye Gargoyle Dog and all the other things that I'm leaving behind.
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