Moving On or Cleansing My Soul

Moving is a daunting experience, to say the least.  From the time my parents brought me home from the hospital to this move, I've lived in 22 different dwellings.  I remember all but two, each had it's own story, each move was different, each move was the same.   From the packing of boxes to the unpacking and putting "stuff" away, it is time consuming, daunting and frankly exhausting.

The sorting of stuff, decisions as what one wants to keep and what is unnecessary is a big decision.  I tend to keep stuff, although I'm not a hoarder.  I still have the Huckleberry Hound record I got for my fifth birthday, my Monkees scrap book from when I was eleven and various cards and letters written to me over the years.  It's fun to read letters from friends who went on vacation when we were 14, cards or a newspaper article about something that meant a great deal at the time.  Do I need to keep these things?  Probably no, why move it all again but I probably will.

During this move, I have really started purging.  In my "purge" I found long lost cards my grandmother sent me for Halloween, Christmas and birthdays.  I found cards in boxes my parents sent me over the years, all I've carefully saved.  Do I keep these?  Yes, I still like having those links to the past.  Mom's spiraling handwriting or Nannie's lovely English penmanship still gives me a comforting feeling of love and acceptance.

I found all the family pictures.  Those I'll keep for sure and will look at over and over again, forever.  I have both my grandmother and great grandmother's photo albums.  Mom gave them to me before she died as she knew I'd take care and treasure them.  As I have done the family genealogy, these links to the past hold a special meaning.  These pictures are what I love most.  Remembering those precious moments in time are such sweet memories.  I found one of my tenth birthday, holding my Herman's Hermits Greatest Hits album (I still have it).  I remember when that picture was taken as I was in a big hurry to go back to my bedroom and listen to it on my record player.  "I'm Henry the Eighth I am, Henry the Eighth I am I am!"

But these things are really just stuff.  Moving is also soul cleansing, out with the old and in with the new.  I am moving on with my life, old love is gone, new love hopefully will be found.  Friendships will remain solid, but some acquaintances will be left in the past.  Time to turn over a new leaf, time to make changes, time to cleanse my soul.

So thank you my dear friends, Toni, Joyce and Jane.  Thank you for the years of friendship, love and acceptance.  I'm moving not just to Idaho but on with my life.  New friendships will be made, new experiences will happen but those I hold dear will never be forgotten.  Thank you for the memories!