I have two sons, Wes age 45 and Wally age 41, who both decided this year that maybe they should have listened when I told them to go to college on Mom and Dad's money before they had the responsibilities of wives and children. They both went, quit, went back, then gave up. Wisdom finally set in and they are both back in school. I could not be happier but it is a real challenge for both boys. I can fully relate as I did the same thing but I could not be more proud of either of them.
Wally is a Music Performance major and he told me the other day that if he could prove that he did indeed do a Senior Recital in 1998 that he would not have to do another one. Being a good Mother that saves programs of important events I decided to look and see if I could find one. So far no luck, but I must say it was amazing what I did find.
Doesn't everyone need to keep a box of their high school and college term papers? Especially the one that made a A? The totally made up story titled "My Conflict" about how I was adopted. Wonder if that teacher just felt sorry for me and thankfully she never talked to my parents. That goes for the rest of the two file cabinet drawers of class notes. Who knows when I might need to do some calculus computations or know how to run a color TV camera?
Can you really just throw away ticket stubs to Eric Clapton, Leon Russell or Tommy Emmanuel? Or programs from the 1964 Beach Boys or Herman's Hermits concerts? Or the letters you wrote to your parents from Girl Scout Camp?
How could I not keep the skate boots that I won as Queen of the Stardust Skating Rink in 1961 (complete with pom poms)? Or my felt cowgirl outfit I wore every Saturday morning when I was five years old so I could look like Dale Evans? Then there are all the roller skating, ice skating and dancing costumes from recitals and shows. Plus the junior high cheerleader outfit that goes to all my class reunions.
Then there are drag racing team uniforms and forty years of ticket stubs. Five hundred vinyl records and a complete sound system and microphones I cannot part with. File drawers full of sewing patterns, newsletters I wrote and how-to-do pages from building renovation to running festivals and events. Never can tell when I might need all this stuff.
The only thing that saves me from being on an episode of "The Hoarders" is that I am OCD when it comes to clean, neat and tidy. I do throw garbage away, clean out the refrigerator every day or two and put stuff back in its place. Normally I can find anything is a few minutes of needing it. Maybe even faster at finding things I don't need at the moment or at all.
A counselor would probably ask me why I have this compulsion to keep things. Why not? If I have to pack an extra U-Haul with this stuff when I move that is okay with me. Truthfully my Mother did not keep anything that was not useful at the moment. If I did not wear a piece of clothing for two weeks it went to some poor child who needed clothes. Once she read a letter. looked at a birthday card or a picture of a grandchild it was gone. Guess I have rebelled by doing the opposite.
The thought does cross my mind sometimes as to what Wes and Wally are going to do with all this stuff when I go off to the Happy Hunting Ground. They could probably open their own vintage store but hopefully as college graduates they will be too busy.
I am quite sure I am not the only one in this predicament. Perhaps we could form a National Pack Rat Museum or The Museum of Obscure Crazy People? In my spare time I will work on this. Until then I will keep looking for a Senior Recital Program from 1998.
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