Storage: AKA finding a home for the stuff

It's New Year's Eve 2018, and I've had just about enough of all the clutter in my life.

Made up my mind I have to get a handle on all the stuff, so I did the inventory.

46 boxes of stuff (from my parents' house in the garage).
6 boxes of paper (from my dad's filing cabinets in my office).
5 boxes of pictures (from my KC house that I've never hung).
7 boxes of silver (from my mom's dining room).
4 upstairs closets filled with boxes and fabric, curtains, tablecloths, nicknacks from the KC house.
And the attic. Can't even get in there without banging my head every time I go in there.
And six filing cabinets - 3 in the garage (filled with school treasures; 3 in the office with a business long gone.)

Then there's the furniture - 1/2 of which Diane and John took to stage their "fixer upper" house. That will be returning at some time in the not too distant future.

And that doesn't even count the excessive pieces of clothing in my room, Judy's room, and three coat closets.

Enough is enough.

Time to find a new home for all the stuff. And it doesn't necessarily have to be here. (Donations, yard sales, re-gifting and trashing are all a part of the master plan.)

Truth is, Judy will be 70 in just a few weeks, and I am 63. We won't live forever, and all this stuff is weighing us down.

I know what is here, I just can't put my hands on it when I want it. And I do want to see what we have  so I can put it to good use.

Everything needs a home. Where I can find it. When I want it.

So ...

Here's the beginning of the plan:
1. Install shelving in the 4 upstairs closets.
2. Unpack the boxes so I can see the stuff.
3. Make room for the pictures/frames so I know what I have. (Move the pictures from my office so I can get to the filing cabinets and actually use them!)
4. Cull my old stuff and either trash, donate or sell what I will never use again.

Make a home for all of Mom and Dad's stuff:
5. Move the banquet tables from the garage to "bedroom 4."
6. Get all the boxes out of the garage into BR 4.
(Ultimately, I'd like to have a wall of built-in cabinets with doors so I can see the contents of the boxes).

In a perfect world, each season would have a "home." All the Christmas would be in one place, the fall stuff, Easter, Valentine's, 4th of July ... you get the picture.

I used to have my house set up that way, but I never had the time to do that once I retired.

What went wrong? Well ... Long story but here's the short version:

Mom died. Dad started pressing me to find a "better house" for me and Judy. We needed "one level living" because of her bad knees and my hip going out. I found the Springhouse. We amended it so Judy would have the space she needed, and I would have mine. That was the easy part.

Then I had two houses of my own (for a short period of time) and Dad and Judy's lives in Newport News to attend to. Every day was a "mission." I juggled letting go of my organized home of 27 years, planning a home for me and Judy, and taking care of them. And I had Dad to bounce ideas off of while I planned and continued with the mission.

Then Dad got sick. And the ONE person I had to help guide me was no longer guiding me.

I never factored in his absence from my life in the plan.

Yes. I knew the plan all along - but I never thought I would be completely alone managing everything day-to-day.

I never knew caring for my father's affairs (his health, his mental wellness, his daily needs, his finances, his home) would be so hard.

I knew I would have Judy living with me. And I know what she needs to make her life work - but I didn't know that the federal government would make the transition so hard.

And I didn't expect our brothers (and their 7 adult children) to abandon us. Especially Freddy. (To be fair, Phil stepped up to the plate and took care of 23 Douglas, for the most part).

When I think of who our parents were and all they did in their lives - particularly, for our sister and for US - their children, I know how they raised us to "do the right thing" - every time.

I know my WORDS have been hurtful to my brothers and to their children. But I have spoken the truths my parents never did.

In the meantime, I will do what I must to make our lives better. Finding a home for all this stuff. Even the things we have no use for - like abandonment.