Out with the Old, In with the New

Home

Blog

Out with the Old, In with the New

Written by Gayle Nobel

Saturday, 14 April 2012 16:49

Blog-a-thon Day 13

As I mentioned a few posts ago, I am on a purging mission this month, getting rid of 10 items per day. Sometimes they are tiny such as broken stuff lingering in drawers. I am also realistically looking at my clothes and jewelry and cleaning out cupboards or parts of closets, just a little at a time. I've already made a few runs to the local donation centers.

The first 13 days have been easy and most days I spend less than 5 minutes gathering up items to trash or donate. I've been on a definite roll and have been releasing things without blinking an eye.

Today I blinked.

I've been slowly going through Kyle's therapy room/workout room closet over the last week or so. We have a large collection of pictures from past attempts at PEC's and picture schedules and calendars. One of my former volunteers even organized them by category at one time. I have been digging deep and questioning why I am keeping things. It suddenly occurred to me that there was no reason to keep these pictures.

We have recently started giving Kyle picture choices again but Tammy has taken all the photographs from the most realistic view possible and mounted them. They are current and probably the clearest we have ever had. Though Kyle did not have success in the past making choices from pictures, he has grown so much in his twenties, we thought it might be a good idea to give it another try. A fresh start with new and improved photographs.

Before getting rid of our old collection of pictures, I asked Tammy to go through them to see if there was anything she thought we might be able to use again. I was so overwhelmed just looking at the piles, I was not in the mood to sift through them myself.

Today Kyle wasn't feeling well and Tammy had time to begin looking through the pictures. Other than a few people pics she set aside, she saw nothing there to reuse.

The pictures were all laying out in their categorized zip lock bags ready for me to trash. But now I felt weird about it. Slightly emotional even. These were pictures of stuff Kyle no longer had, ate, or used. Why would I hesitate before throwing them away? I'm trying to declutter, right?

The pictures were kind of a representation of many phases of Kyle's life, of our life. I felt a little sad about all the things we tried, most of which didn't work out. We worked hard to make those pictures. Most were taken before everyone had a digital camera. We had to take the pictures, not knowing right away if they were a good representation. I usually ended up bringing them to the copy store to be resized. Large, small, tiny, huge- we tried everything. And then there was the necessary laminating and cutting and velcroing. We made a big time and money investment in these pictures over the years.

So what was this emotional attachment to these pictures about? There were memories embedded in them. Sort of. They were just of stuff, not of people. I had this feeling of wanting to hang on, that I "shouldn't" throw them away. They took me back to the time when the kids were little. Suddenly, I was nostalgic for those days, almost wishing to turn back the clock, but not. How would we do it differently if we had another chance at Kyle's childhood? Wistful silly thoughts.

I knew I didn't have to discard the pictures if I really wanted to keep them. I felt the pull of reluctance, but finally decided it was time to let them go.

We bought Kyle a new chair today. Shortly after we carried his new rocker/recliner into his bedroom, I filled the recycle trash with twenty years worth of pictures. Two empty shelves in the closet are now waiting to be dusted. Sometimes letting go is bittersweet.

Bookmark

Comments (7) Add Comment

Subscribe to this comment's feed

...
written by rigids, April 18, 2012

lorem ipsum dummy text comment

good
written by zenith replica watch, August 04, 2012

good idea zenith replica watch

Rolex Masterpiece replica
written by Rolex Masterpiece replica, September 18, 2012

In the modern world, it is very in to wear a nice and luxury Rolex Masterpiece replica

north face denali sale
written by north face denali sale, September 22, 2012

Designed specifically for outdoor and traveling activities, north face outlet sale their backpacks are engineered using proprietary technologies to north face denali sale give the user the best products to fit their needs.

...
written by Tiffany Outlet, September 27, 2012

Tiffany Jewelry Outlet was founded in 1837, the beginning is of silver tableware is known, in 1851 launched a Silver 925 decorations and more famous. Famous actress of Hepburn, Audrey starred in the 1960 Hollywood is named after Tiffany of Tiffany breakfast.

So great!
written by hublot king power ayrton senna replica, September 28, 2012

I am benefit a lot from this hublot king power ayrton senna replica

http://www.cheapondvd.com
written by http://www.cheapondvd.com, October 22, 2012

Gerard (Michael Hogan) is continue to creeping around, but one would envision throwing up fountains of black blood can’t make you much time for this world. There was an additional death to arrive, although: Allison and Scott’s (Tyler Posey) connection. Following almost eliminating his new friend Isaac (Daniel Sharman), Allison determined maybe she should just be solitary for some time. Hunter/werewolf circumstances are so complex! So just finish the complete and cheap Teen Wolf Seasons 1-2 DVD Box Set at cheapondvd.com.