“Stuff”

I have had many opportunities in the last few months to learn many lessons. One of the biggest lessons of them all has been  the meaning and purpose of “STUFF”.

After living in my home for 23 years, I accumulated a lot of “stuff”. When Bill left, he left with a brown paper sack of stuff, and that left a lot of stuff behind. Stuff in the barn, in the shed, in the closets, on shelves, in drawers. 

Over the last few years I have tried to weed out some of my stuff.  I have donated many items to Goodwill.  However, stuff was everywhere. AND along with my stuff,  my sons had left momentos  at the house:  toys, stuffed animals, Match Box cars, report cards, school photos, love letters, yearbooks, rocks, feathers, boots, shoes, skis, a bag of sand from Key West.

After the fire, before I was really aware of what was and wasn't destroyed, people came in and removed whatever they deemed “salvageable STUFF”. They took this salvageable stuff to three different locations. To Oxford they took my books, dishes, glasses, knick knacks, books, and more books . To Brunswick, they took my linens and things. Off to Scarborough went my electronics.

It is amazing what one person can own. Juxtaposition that to what one person needs.  I always believed that  I did not need much to be happy. Years at CAMP taught me that. A summer on the Appalachian Trail, reaffirmed that. Living in a van on a beach in Texas, reinforced that. Yet, somehow, I now find myself overwhelmed with STUFF that I no longer want or need. Much of it  I would rather not see or touch again. 

The stuff that went to Oxford is now in storage in Auburn. There are 287 items there. Some of the items are boxes filled with stuff. In Brunswick, I have whittled the pile down from 30 plus boxes to about 10. I have 75 items in Scarborough. I have begun to acquire some stuff in Portland. I have five boxes of stuff in the back of my car that I have been traveling around with for a few days.   I plan to deliver them to  my dear friend Bonita who lived with me at the time of the fire.

I have visited my stuff a few times, and been able to spend a few hours with it. While the insurance claim is still in process, I have to have supervised visits. I guess someone is afraid that I might steal some of it. Each visitation has left me baffled at whatever possessed me to save some of that stuff. I do know that one reason is when my mother was still alive I returned home to find that all of my childhood toys had been disposed of. I was devastated. Barbie and Skipper had gone to the dump?!? I made myself a promise, right then and there, that I would never do that to my children! So, it seems I have overcompensated.  Just a tad?

As of last week, I am the proud owner of the most beautiful basement in the world. Up until now, I really disliked basements. The thought of a basement brought images of creepy, damp, and dark spaces full of spiders, other creepy crawly things, and lots of stuff. Our house in Portland had one. If anyone ever needed to hide something from me (I am a terrible snoop at Christmas), they knew it was most likely safe in the basement. The New Gloucester house didn't have a basement. 

Every one I spoke with while designing my new house espoused the benefits of having a full basement. The biggest  benefit: “You will have plenty of storage for your stuff”!

As George Carlin said in 1986, “.... your house is a pile of stuff with a cover on it”. I have recently learned how true that is. My new home will NOT be merely a cover for a pile of stuff. To that I am committed!

If any one wants some STUFF, let me know. I have some I am getting rid of...